Britainia
by TVfan
Summary: Macbeth, Arthur and the London Clan return home following the Second Unseelie War (seen the Gargoyles title) and find that the future might simply be their biggest challenge. (Transferred from the Gargoyles Fan Website where my pen-name is SN and where I've forgotten my password)
1. Home Again

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Aftermath".

Home Again

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**London**

Macbeth and Arthur barely noticed the roars of the gargoyles as they woke up. Both were far too involved in a discussion with Merlin concerning the Holy Grail, which was still with them.

"So you say it's only good for healing?" Macbeth asked.

"And it's a one time use only," Merlin explained, "From what I've read, it can cure one person only once. It can be used more than once, but not on the same person."

"So it would be best to save it for a life threatening injury," Arthur guessed.

"Or Britain's greatest hour of need," Merlin sighed, "The Lady of the Lake warned me that you would need to be ready for it and that it is coming."

"How do we know what is Britain's greatest hour of need?" Arthur asked.

"That's the tricky part," Merlin sighed, "It could be anything. Some Unseelies that survived the war might cause more trouble than we think. Some foreign nation could attack Britain, or it could be something we haven't encountered yet."

"What are you talking about?" came a new voice causing the three humans to turn to see that the clan had indeed woken up and was now arriving for their breakfast.

"Mostly strategy on how we are going to use the Holy Grail for now," Merlin answered,

"Any big plans for the night on your end?"

"Una and I have a lot of paperwork left to do to get the shop running again," Leo sighed,

"We'll probably be working on that for most of the night."

"Chloe, Octavia, and I will run one patrol for tonight," Julia said, "Make sure that no

criminals have grown bold in our absence."

"I'm stuck as a tour guide," Griff chuckled, "Giving the three Avalon clan members a tour of London."

"I know this is really unimportant for you all, but Demona and I will simply be finding a train to Liverpool after breakfast," Wedrington said weakly.

Macbeth and Arthur nodded. The first couple of days back in London would be rather hectic for everyone. There had been no progress on rebuilding Una and Leo's shop. The two gargoyles essentially owned an abandoned and unoccupied piece of earth and now had to send rejection letters to various people offering to buy the land. Lancelot, Guinevere, and Gawain would need to learn more about London if they were to be successful in helping the clan protect the city. Chloe and the rest of the London clan had to catch up in terms of keeping crime in London under control.

Macbeth and Arthur also knew they had things they needed to do. Macbeth had sent an

application in to a small college in the area that needed a history professor, and Arthur was working with Merlin to get a small private investigator's business started. All of them had things to do.

**Elsewhere**

"Ah," Morrigan smiled as the escaped Unseelie walked along the back streets of London, "It is good to be back in London"

The Unseelie looked around the street and noticed the various people walking from place to place. It was calm, too calm for the fey's taste.

"It's too quiet here," Morrigan thought to herself, "I'll need to do something about that."

The fey then looked at a nearby intersection. Cars and buses drove through it at a slow but steady pace. Smiling, Morrigan lifted her arms out and sent a small burst of magic out into the intersection and then into two separate cars. She carefully used her magic to control the drivers of each vehicle, making them speed into the intersection while there were still other cars in the middle of it. The Unseelie barely controlled herself from bursting out laughing as the vehicles she had controlled caused a massive pile up as cars and buses slammed into each other. The Unseelie then watched to see what would happen next.

It was the first man that had gotten hit by the cars driven by the people that Morrigan

manipulated who acted first. He crawled out the window of his vehicle and approached the vehicle that hit him, a large tour bus.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the man screamed at the bus driver, "You could have killed me!"

Morrigan smiled at the growing tension and played her hand with magic again.

"You were in my way," the bus driver answered in an almost trance-like voice.

The first man suddenly kicked the door in to the bus and began to physically attack the bus driver as passengers on the bus began to argue as well over who was at fault. Morrigan meanwhile watched as the arguments between the people began to grow into a full fledged riot.

"Now, this is entertainment," Morrigan thought to herself, "Now to find a seat where I can watch this in comfort."

The fey then slowly faded from view as chaos began to engulf the intersection. Morrigan

was not able to leave unnoticed however, as two people in dark colored clothing noticed that the fey had simply vanished.

"Did you see that?" one of the two people said with a great deal of curiosity in his

voice, "That girl just disappeared."

"I did see," the man's female companion said with a lot of curiosity in her voice as

well, "I wonder who that woman is."

The male viewed the chaos going on down below and then scanned the rooftops and tried to listen for the sound of police sirens. He then quickly turned and bolted for the door.

"Where are you going?" his companion asked.

"I think that woman is on the roof of the building across from us," the man said, "I'm

going to find out who she is."

"I'm coming with you," the woman then said and followed him out.

Meanwhile, in the air above the whole mess, Chloe, Octavia, and Julia came across the riot going on in the intersection. It didn't take much for the three gargoyles to see all the commotion that was going on below them.

"It's utter chaos!" Chloe exclaimed.

Octavia noticed several police cars were coming from far away, "We can't do much. The

police are well on their way."

Julia frowned at the situation, "We should still try to determine what caused this."

"Unless we reveal ourselves, we can't," Chloe sighed.

"I still don't like this," Julia sighed in frustration.

"We'll stay in the area to make sure the police can handle things," Octavia answered the

other Roman gargoyle's concerns, "If they begin attacking the policemen, then we will intervene. For now we can only observe what is going on."

Julia sighed heavily, "You're right. Let's land on that roof there."

Morrigan's amusement at the riot she had started below had faded when she saw three winged forms land on the roof of a nearby building. Obviously gargoyles, the Unseelie felt both feelings of frustration and the sense of an opportunity.

"If they are here, that means that Arthur and Merlin are here," Morrigan thought with an

evil smile, "I can show that halfling a thing or two and killing that 'Once and Future King' will be much more fun."

Morrigan looked out over the roof and watched the three gargoyles. Two were the Roman

females while the third was a forest green Scottish female. All were focused on what was happening below.

"Dealing with them will be interesting, but will require more work," Morrigan thought

smiling, as she faded from view.

The two people that had seen the Unseelie earlier arrived to see Morrigan disappear again.

"Damn," the man cursed, "Who was that?"

The woman sighed, "I guess we'll never know."

"Wow," Guinevere commented as Griff showed them the monument that the British had

erected to both Griff and Goliath's actions during the Battle of Britain.

"They really built this for you?" Gawain asked, "From what Angela's told us of her

early adventures in Manhattan, most humans hold a strong fear of gargoyles."

"It was a different time," Griff chuckled, "The war was on and the people who built this

monument were disparate for help. And I gave them all the help I could give."

"The whole city seems to be amazing to me," Lancelot said, "It's very much like New York."

Griff restrained himself from laughing too hard, "Not so much. New York, specifically Manhattan is city of 'skyscrapers'. London is a much older city and has many buildings that are still in use that are far older than New York. They're both different."

"It's still all very interesting," Guinevere told the griffon-like gargoyle, "And completely different from Avalon. I'm glad I came."

Lancelot and Gawain nodded in agreement.

"Well," Griff shrugged, "I'm glad you like London. Now, let's get going, we still have the areas where we commonly have to check while patrolling."

Griff then moved off in a direction to find a building that they could climb up to

continue their tour.

**London Train Station**

Wedrington stepped out onto the platform looking very nervous, while Demona was inside buying tickets. One of his reasons was the fact that he was only in England at the moment to tell and show his parents that something had taken his humanity from him. Another reason was that he was afraid that the spell Demona had cast to make him appear human would wear off.

"Relax," came Demona's voice from behind him as she came out in the guise of Dominique Destine, "The spell will last for twenty four hours. We have until tomorrow night before the spell will wear off, and the train should get us to Liverpool before dawn."

Wedrington sighed in relief, "Which train do we go to?"

Demona looked down at the two tickets she had bought and handed one to Wedrington.

"They say our train will arrive here in ten minutes," Demona answered, "We don't need to go anywhere."

Wedrington sighed and then went to sit on an empty bench near the wall while they waited for the train. Demona sat beside him, making sure that there was no room for anyone else to sit on the bench.

"You seem nervous," Demona commented.

"It's the whole meeting my folks and having to show them what's happened to me,"

Wedrington sighed, "It's not that I'm going to weasel out of it and it's not like they don't need to know, but what if they don't believe I'm who I say I am."

Demona didn't know how to answer that. Despite her promise not to ever wage war to

destroy all humanity, she still hated the species for its flaws which she saw as obvious and nearly universal. Yet at the same time she had come to care Wedrington in a manner in which she did not anticipate and he had originally been human. He had sworn to guard her during the day despite her earlier treatment of him in Egypt and had now promised to help her 'reform'. It was more than she thought she would ever receive. Yet it led the immortal female to let Wedrington remain with her, and now Demona found herself unwilling to let him leave.

"I'm sure that won't happen," Demona finally answered thinking of something to say.

"Demona, no one in my family has ever seen a gargoyle before and magic is just an object of fantasy to them," Wedrington explained, "It will be hard to prove it's me and not a suit."

"You can always return with me to New York," Demona offered, "If they reject you, you could remain with me…"

"I will return to New York with you when this is over," Wedrington answered, "That is not in question. What is in question how my family will react to this."

"I promise I will help you," Demona answered placing her 'hand' over his.

"I thank you for that," Wedrington answered with a weak smile as their train arrived.

The two stood up and slowly moved to the closest passenger car. Demona handed the car

attendant the tickets that she had bought and told the man that she and Wedrington were traveling together.

**The London Docks**

Morrigan floated along a quiet sector of what was one of London's busiest districts. Most people had gone home or at least gone elsewhere. There were no new ships coming in to unload their cargo, and the few dock workers who were involved in taking the crates that had been unloaded over the course of the day to the nearby warehouses were too far away to see the floating Unseelie.

"It is Merlin that needs to be dealt with," Morrigan muttered quietly to herself, "Even as a halfling, his powers rival some of the Third Race's full bloods. And with Arthur, Macbeth, and their gargoyle allies at his side, it will be difficult."

Morrigan paused to look up in the night sky, as if trying to read something.

"I will need someone to play with Arthur and Macbeth while I deal with Merlin," Morrigan then thought, "Too bad Xanatos captured Lucius and all the slaves."

Morrigan then looked back at the few dock yard workers. The Unseelie smiled.

"But then, new slaves aren't that hard to find," Morrigan laughed to herself.

**The Mansion**

"A riot was the only criminal activity you came across?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Not the only," Julia reported, "There were some low level crimes. Muggings and so

forth."

"The real thing is what could have been the cause of the accident," Octavia said, "When

we got there, it looked it had been sparked out of a traffic accident, but people wouldn't automatically start a riot over car accidents. There could be a fight between two or three people, but nothing on the scale that we saw."

"It was sparked by a car accident?" Merlin asked from where he sitting.

Both Roman gargoyles nodded.

"There were several cars and a bus had crashed into each other in the intersection,"

Octavia said, "And people were fighting around the wrecked vehicles."

"The world has gone mad," Arthur commented.

"Not mad," Merlin countered, "I suspect outside intervention in this. Car accidents do not

cause riots on the scale that they have described."

"You think someone caused the accident?" Arthur asked.

"Possibly," Merlin nodded, "but more importantly, I think someone else did something to

spark the riot. Although, I'm not sure how."

"Should we look into it?" Arthur asked.

"It couldn't hurt to do so, but not too much," Merlin said to his long time student and friend, "Scotland Yard has probably begun its own investigation by now and a civilian snooping around could cause suspicion."

"It'd be best to wait until tomorrow, also," Macbeth commented from his chair, "Creates

the image that you had just learned about it through the paper."

Arthur nodded in agreement.

**Liverpool**

Demona and Wedrington were quiet as they got off the train. They walked quietly through the train station and then down the city's streets. Demona had quietly suggested that they actually stay outside the city for the day. The spell that maintained the illusion they wore would wear off during the day, and a maid would notice their stone statues in a hotel room. Wedrington didn't like the idea of hiding out on the countryside, but agreed that they couldn't stay in the city to hide. Dawn was coming and the illusion spell made trying to climb up on a church roof impossible.

Demona quietly lead Wedrington down a dark alley to hide them from sight. Wedrington

watched patiently as she raised one hand into the air and began to chant in Latin. He saw only a flash of emerald light after she had finished for a moment and when it faded he found them standing amongst a thick clump of trees near main road leading into the city.

"We'll be safe here," Demona said looking around.

"Should we climb the trees?" Wedrington asked.

Demona shook her head, "No. The weight of our stone forms would break the branches. We will stay on the ground."

Wedrington nodded and was about to say more when the sun rose and the two gargoyles

solidified into stone.

**London**

Arthur and Merlin went out to investigate the riot scene the next day. Macbeth had decided to remain at the mansion, both to wait for a possible answer to his own attempt at getting a new teaching job and to make sure that no harm came to the gargoyles while they slept.

"They got everything cleaned up awfully well," Arthur commented quietly to Merlin as the two walked along one the streets that met at the intersection where the riot had occurred.

Merlin nodded and then looked to one street corner.

"Yes," Merlin sighed, "And I sense magic here too. It was a sorcerer who caused this, if not a fey."

Arthur turned to look at his mentor, almost as if he were actually asking a question.

"I can not tell which or who," Merlin answered, "We will need to see if anyone spotted the source."

"You guys talking about that riot that happened last night?" a voice asked from behind them.

Both Arthur and Merlin whirled to see a man in rather dark cloths, looking almost like what Elisa and some of the Manhattan clan had referred to as 'goths'.

"Yes," Merlin answered simply.

"That was weird, wasn't it?" the man asked.

"From what I read, it certainly was," Arthur answered, "The police do not even know for

sure was the cause of the riot."

"I'll bet that woman Lucy and I saw had something to do with it," the man muttered out

loud.

"What?" Merlin asked.

"My girlfriend, Lucy, and I saw some strange woman standing not too far away from where we are now before the riot started," the man explained, "And then as the riot started she vanished and then reappeared on the roof of that building. We tried to figure out who she was, but she had vanished by then."

"What did this woman look like?" Merlin asked urgently.

"I don't know," the man shrugged, "Lucy and I never really got a good look at her. She

had dark hair though. I think."

The man shook his head, "That's about all I can tell you. A woman with dark hair."

"Thank you," Merlin said quickly and began to walk down the street.

"Do you think this woman he saw is behind this?" Arthur asked as he caught up with

Merlin.

The wizard nodded, "Although his description doesn't narrow the field much. There are many women with dark hair in London."

"Back to square one, then," Arthur sighed, "We'd best get back to the mansion. We can

talk with Macbeth, he might have some suggestions that we can use."

Merlin nodded in agreement and followed Arthur. Meanwhile, a large black raven sat on a phone line that hung over the street. It turned its head sideways to look down and watch the two men as they walked down the street. As they rounded a turn, its eyes glowed green and it took off to follow them.

**Elsewhere**

Morrigan smiled as she looked into the small and broken mirror that she had found and

hung on the far wall of the apartment she had 'bought'. It was really an old room that the building's landlord had had emptied for repairs. Morrigan used her magic to persuade him to let her stay there and to repair the most serious damage. Her 'raven drone' was working perfectly as the image of Arthur and Merlin walked down London's streets.

"I knew you would come to investigate," Morrigan smiled, "Now to find out where you live."

Morrigan watched as the two walked along various streets. They mostly headed north along one main road and a bridge over the river Thames. After getting to the north end of London and the more suburban areas of the city, the two headed west for several blocks until they came to a large mansion with a small yard around it. Morrigan smiled as she watched the two walk up and into the mansion.

"Of course they'd have a mansion," Morrigan practically laughed, "Where would a clan of gargoyles live anyway?"

"Should we attack now?" asked a voice from behind the Unseelie.

Morrigan turned to see the three dock workers and the building's landlord standing behind her, looking at the mirror with enslaved trances on their faces.

"No," Morrigan answered, "We must exercise patience. I want to deal with Merlin alone

and there are not enough of you to deal with Arthur and Macbeth. And that is not counting the gargoyle clan that they are allied with."

Morrigan turned back to face the mirror, which now only held the Unseelie's reflection as the 'raven drone' was no longer necessary and dissipated back into magical energy.

"I will need more slaves and a method of distracting Arthur and Macbeth," Morrigan mumbled.

**The Mansion**

"So it's a dark haired woman that we're looking for?" Macbeth asked as Arthur and Merlin finished their report on what they'd found.

"Who knows magic," Merlin added, "That is why we are looking into all of this concerning that riot. If it were just a normal riot caused by some sort of frustration of people with something, it should be left to the police to figure out. But, magic is powerful and if someone is wielding to cause trouble the police might find themselves outmatched if they find the person causing all this trouble."

"Do you know if whoever this is human?" Macbeth asked, "Or a fey disguised as a human?"

"No," Merlin sighed, "I could sense magic in the area of the street corner where the man

said she was standing, but the 'woman' must have been trying to 'shield' her magic as well as use it. It would be impossible to tell if it was human or fey because of it."

"Great," Macbeth grumbled.

"I'll talk with Griff," Arthur sighed, "He and his clan will need to know about this and

that they may be dealing with a magic user."

"I guess that's about all we can do until we get some more clues," Macbeth sighed.

"On other matters, Macbeth," Merlin began, changing the subject, "Have you heard anything back from the university?"

"I haven't heard anything from them," Macbeth answered, "They must be busy with something. Which I hope doesn't last too long. My 'fortune' won't last forever and it will take a while before Leo and Una can get their shop running again. Which means we will have no source of income, unless Merlin can summon money?"

"I could," Merlin laughed, "If you're found of inflation."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at his mentor.

"If I were to 'summon money'," Merlin began to explain, "It would have to come from two sources. Either I would have to transport it here from somewhere else, or create new pieces. The former would be stealing and the latter would create different problems. While the money summoned would be real, but it would cause a lot of inflation because there are more Pounds in circulation then was actually printed."

The two nodded and sat back in their chairs.

"And I wouldn't worry too much, Macbeth," Merlin commented, "I'm sure this is easily

fixable."

"I hope so," Macbeth answered.

**Liverpool outskirts, Dusk**

Demona and Wedrington flinched slightly as their wings brushed against tree branches that were above them. They didn't bother Demona too much, since the skin on the back of her wings was pretty tough, but they did give Wedrington's feathered wings some trouble.

"You didn't ever have to sleep out in places like this?" Wedrington asked as he began

brushing twigs off his wings.

"One must adapt to many different adverse circumstances when one is essentially an outcast," Demona answered, "I've had no clan ever since… ever since I betrayed Macbeth in the Middle Ages."

Wedrington was silent.

"Come, we'll need to climb these trees to get to a height sufficient for gliding," Demona answered, "If you still want to inform your parents."

Wedrington nodded and began to follow Demona up one of the nearby trees, and did as much as possible to keep the branches from messing up his wings. Once they got to the top of the tree they launched themselves into the air and began to glide back towards the city.

"Where exactly does your family live in the city?" Demona asked as they began to approach the city.

"It's a small house on the south side of the city," Wedrington answered, "I could lead you there, if you think that's easier?"

Demona waved one hand out and said simply, "Lead the way."

Wedrington then lead the way into the city. He glided at a fairly low altitude as he tried to read street signs as they glided over them. Demona remained slightly above him in altitude and was gliding slightly slower than the English gargoyle, but followed his every turn and kept close enough that she wouldn't lose him.

"There she is!" Wedrington announced suddenly.

"There's who?" Demona asked, "Your family's home?"

"No," Wedrington shook his head, "It's my mother. Must be on the way home from the grocery."

Wedrington then began to follow the woman through the air, although being careful to avoid being seen. Demona once again followed Wedrington, but as they went the sky blue immortal gargoyle noticed a pair of shadows hiding in a small alley way between two houses.

Before Demona could say anything about the shadows, Wedrington's mother neared the alley that the 'shadows' seemed to be hiding in. As she did so, two large men leaped out, knocking her sack of groceries to the ground and began demanding her for money.

"Give us yer purse!" one screamed.

"NO!" Wedrington screamed in a voice that even the people on the street heard and dove down toward the scene below them.

Mrs. Bethany Wedrington glanced up, ignoring her attackers when she heard a voice scream 'no' before she could. What she saw frightened her to no end. A large white skinned winged sphinx-like creature with glowing white eyes was diving down out of the sky. Upon looking further, she saw that there was a sky blue colored demon with red eyes following close behind. Her two would be robbers saw them to and released her. Mrs. Wedrington however was too overcome with fear to even move.

Wedrington landed on the sidewalk putting himself between the crook and his mother. The man tried to stab him with a knife he had produced, but Wedrington quickly dodged and hit the man with his other fist. The blow sent him flying and he crashed head first into an Iron fence that went around a small garden that was attached to the front of a nearby house. The man then fell unconscious.

Demona meanwhile landed on the stone staircase of that lead to another building and

before the other would-be thief could do anything, lifted him into the air and growled into his face with glowing red eyes. The man fainted dead away.

"That will teach you to try and rob helpless women," Demona growled dropping the man to ground, trying to sound like she truly did care about humans.

"Don't harm me!" Mrs. Wedrington shrieked.

"We have no intentions of harming you," Demona said calmly, "But my partner here has some very important information he must give you and your husband."

"He needs to speak with me and George?" Mrs. Wedrington asked.

"Yes," Demona answered, "But not here. Can you lead us to your home?"

Mrs. Wedrington looked at the creatures and noticed that the glow in their eyes had faded, leaving dark pupils on a generally white 'background'. The woman then sighed.

"Fine," Mrs. Wedrington sighed, "I might as well get an explanation for all of this."

Wedrington had already gathered up his mother's groceries and handed the bag to her. Mrs. Wedrington took them, startled that these two strange creatures had appeared out of nowhere and were more concerned with helping her then attacking her or doing anything else. It was strange that creatures so frightening in appearance could be as polite as they were. She calmly began walking toward her home again, and noticed that the two creatures had taken to the air and were gliding behind her.

Demona and Wedrington landed again as Mrs. Wedrington approached her own front door.

"You'll explain all this, now?" Mrs. Wedrington asked.

"Inside," Demona insisted, "We will attract too much attention out here."

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Wedrington sighed as she opened the door and reluctantly let the two

gargoyles.

"Beth, is that you?" a voice asked from further inside the house as Demona and Wedrington walked into the entrance way.

A fairly elderly man cam out from another room, leaning heavily on a cane, and was

obviously looking for Mrs. Wedrington. When he saw the two gargoyles he very nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh my!" the man screamed, "Demons! Beth! Where are you?"

Wedrington rushed silently to make sure his father didn't fall down in his frightened

state.

"You can relax, George," Mrs. Wedrington came in and set her groceries down on a small end-table, "They may be demons, but they don't appear to be evil. They actually rescued me from some robbers out on the street."

"And you bring them into our house?" George Wedrington screamed and then clutched his chest, and then wheezed out, "I need my pills."

"Too much excitement," Mrs. Wedrington chided, "Too much excitement. They've promised to explain everything."

Demona and Wedrington watched as George Wedrington moved off into another room and pulled out a small plastic jar and took a pill out. Demona saw that it was some brand of heart medicine, most likely some form of aspirin. He then took his cane and slowly walked out into a small living room and sat down into a chair.

"Good," George Wedrington said, "I could use it after you gave me a heart attack."

Mrs. Wedrington sighed and sat down into another chair in the living room and motioned to a nearby couch for Demona and Wedrington to sit in. Both elderly humans watched as the two gargoyles sat down, and both noticed that the white sphinx-like gargoyle looked more comfortable of the two with being around them.

"What are you?" Mrs. Wedrington asked simply.

"What kind of demon are you?" George Wedrington added.

It was Demona who answered.

"We are NOT demons," Demona nearly growled, "We are gargoyles…"

"Like the ones in New York on the news?" Mrs. Wedrington asked.

Demona nodded, "We are mythological creatures in the sense that we are not human and that we turn to stone during the day, but we are not demons."

"A lot of demons have an intense aversion to sunlight," George Wedrington argued from his seat.

"Not all of them do and for those that do have to avoid sunlight, they do so because it

literally threatens their life," Demona explained, making no attempt to hide her frustration, "A GARGOYLE however does not have any need to fear the sun in such a way. We are a nocturnal species, when we are incased in stone, we are simply sleeping."

George Wedrington was about to argue when Mrs. Wedrington cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"I thought you said he had something to tell us?" Mrs. Wedrington asked.

"He does," Demona sighed, "But I am just trying to give you the facts you will need to know in order to believe him."

Demona waited for both to nod before continuing.

"I can obviously see that you believe that gargoyles are in fact real, rather then simple myth," Demona said slowly, "but I'm sure there many things that you do not know."

"Like what?" George Wedrington demanded.

"Like magic and sorcery," Demona answered in similar tone, "The ability to do things that would seem impossible or at least irrational."

"They're real?" Mrs. Wedrington asked, "Can you do magic?"

"They are real," Demona answered, "And yes I can do magic. I am a sorceress versed in

mortal magic…"

"Mortal magic?" George Wedrington questioned.

"There are beings out there that are technically immortal and can do magic naturally,"

Demona answered, "Magic done by beings that do not belong to that race is considered 'mortal magic'."

The elderly couple sat quietly and after Demona felt it had all sunk in, she decided to

continue.

"If I may ask a question, have you heard from you son recently?" Demona asked in a

questioning manner.

"How do you…?" George Wedrington demanded.

"Do you know our Jeffery?" Mrs. Wedrington asked, trying to sound less surprised and

startled by the fact that this gargoyle mentioned their son's name, without them knowing if the creature knew their son.

Demona looked at Wedrington for a moment and nodded, "Yes. I met him at a site in

Egypt."

"What have you done to him?" George Wedrington demanded again, "I'll have you arrested if he's been harmed."

Demona looked shocked as the old man looked as if he was going to get out of his chair

and challenge her.

"I have done nothing to him," Demona growled back defensively.

"We heard he was staying in New York," Mrs. Wedrington replied, "Has something happened to our Jeffery?"

It was then that Wedrington has.

"I'm afraid something has," Wedrington answered weakly, trying to avoid looking embarrassed.

"Jeffery?" Mrs. Wedrington asked in shocked voice and on the verge of fainting.

"Yes, it's me," Wedrington looked down, "You see, after Demona and I…"

"What have you done to my son?" George Wedrington yelled at Demona, getting up onto his feet.

"Demona didn't do anything," Wedrington said quickly, "Some lunatic kidnapped me after we arrived in New York and had some other gargoyle use magic to turn me into a gargoyle."

"This is real?" Mrs. Wedrington asked weakly, "That's not a costume you're wearing?"

"It's real," Wedrington said looking down.

George Wedrington, however, kept his attention fixed on Demona.

"Prove it," he growled.

"Huh?" Demona and Wedrington answered in unison.

"Our Jeffery said that some used magic to transform him into a gargoyle," George

Wedrington explained, "and you mentioned something about knowing 'magic'. Prove that magic exists."

"How?" Demona asked, hoping for anything that would get this meeting over with.

"You could change our son back into a human," George Wedrington said in a commanding voice.

Demona sighed, "Unfortunately, that is impossible. The spell cast on him is irreversible by any 'normal' counter-spell. A series of spells would be needed from different types of mortal magic and your son would have to be the one to cast them."

"Then change something into a gargoyle, then," George Wedrington growled, "That old

newspaper over there would work."

Demona looked over to an end-table that sat in the corner of the room. An old folded

up newspaper sat there.

"I can't do that," Demona answered, "The spell to transform anything into a gargoyle, must be cast on an animal or human. On an animal, the spell would create a gargoyle beast and on a human it would result in another gargoyle. And I WILL NOT do that. I personally do not care for humans, and would prefer to avoid them as much as possible and creating another gargoyle out of a human is something I would never do."

"Not to mention that because the spell can not be reversed, the person transformed would lose their former life and would have to really want a gargoyle's lifestyle in order to go through with it," Wedrington sighed.

"We understand," Mrs. Wedrington nodded, "Maybe perhaps a different display of magic. Something that you can do that doesn't have dire consequences."

Demona nodded and began to think.

"Can you simply create something out of thin air?" Mrs. Wedrington asked suddenly.

"Yes," Demona answered simply, not bothering to explain magic and its laws any

further.

"How about creating a warm pot of tea then?" Mrs. Wedrington asked, "It's after tea time, I know, but I'm thirsty and it's one of the few beverages that are healthy for George and I to drink at our age."

Demona shrugged, not really needing to hear the woman's explanation and then began to

chant in Latin. A few seconds later there was small emerald green flash that left a moderately sized tea pot sitting on a small table that sat between the chair that Mrs. Wedrington was sitting in and the chair that her husband was sitting in. Mrs. Wedrington looked at it for a moment and blinked.

"That's good enough for me," Mrs. Wedrington said with some awe in her voice, "I'll get

some sugar and milk, as well as some cups. Do you take anything with your tea?"

"I'm actually not thirsty at the moment," Demona answered.

Mrs. Wedrington nodded and continued on into the kitchen.

**London**

Griff and Octavia glided quietly over the British capital city. Both the English and Roman gargoyle were focused on trying to find anything like what happened the night before. So far they had seen none.

"I seem to miss all the excitement," Griff grumbled, "Last night you come upon a massive riot while I'm off giving tours. Now I'm back on patrol and nothing happens."

"I thought you would enjoy a break from so much excitement," Octavia chuckled back,

"Especially considering all the trouble the Unseelies caused."

"I guess I've just lived through too much excitement," Griff sighed, "I'd like peace,

but once I get it, I have no idea what to do with it."

They suddenly heard the sound of ravens above and behind them. When the two gargoyles turned to look and see what it was, they saw several of the large black birds flying behind them, their glowing red eyes clearly indicating that these weren't normal birds.

"What the devil?" Griff growled as a raven dove at his chest.

The griffon-like gargoyle batted the attacking bird away with his talons, but it recovered and flew up again, driving its beak into the back of Griff's calf muscle. Griff roared with pain and whipped his tail to knock the offending bird away from him. This time it dissipated into nothing.

"It's like that battle in Central Park," Griff growled as he clawed at another raven as it dove at him, "They're composed of energy."

Octavia dodged one raven's attack and deflected another.

"Who summoned the energy to form them, though?" the Roman gargoyle asked, "Do you

see anyone on the ground?"

Griff grabbed one raven that had missed in its attempt to attack him and flung it at another that was nearby.

"There is no one around here, besides us," Griff answered

"Great," Octavia grumbled, "Here's the excitement you said you were looking for."

Griff only sighed as he dodged another raven's attack.

**Elsewhere**

Morrigan floated high in air at a spot where she could observe the mansion that Arthur

and his allies were staying in. She quickly noticed that not all of her mortal foes had left. Arthur remained inside the building and she could sense the presence of two gargoyles inside. Merlin was also there.

"Shall we attack, now?" one of slaves that Morrigan had acquired the night before asked.

"No," Morrigan sighed, "Apparently, not all of Merlin's mortal friends left for patrol. At this time, I only want Merlin. I want him alone and isolated from the mortals he's always befriended. That way I can destroy him."

"Yes, mistress," the slave acknowledged.

Inside the mansion, there was very little activity. Arthur had called it a night about half an hour earlier. Merlin was busy studying various manuscripts that he had on the Holy Grail, trying to make sure they had everything they would need, in case the Grail was needed. Merlin himself was about turn in when most of the patrol teams walked into his small study. Chloe, Macbeth, and Gawain had not with them but Merlin could already hear other footsteps walking through the

mansion's halls.

"Another riot?" Merlin asked.

"No," Lancelot answered quickly, "It was ravens."

Merlin looked at the young Avalon gargoyle with a real look of puzzlement.

"Someone using magic summoned ravens made out of energy to attack us," Griff explained, "Not necessarily life threatening for a gargoyle, but there were enough of them that we spent much of our patrol time fighting them off."

"Did Macbeth and his group run into anything similar?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, we did," came Macbeth's voice as the immortal Scottish noble walked in, with Chloe and Gawain closely following.

"And these ravens were created by magic, you say?" Merlin asked.

"Yes," Julia answered, "And very tenacious for simple birds."

"Then I believe we have our prime suspect for who caused that riot last night," Merlin

answered, "Or at least the first 'person' we should look for and question regarding it."

"What do you mean?" Macbeth questioned.

"With Madoc's death the Unseelie Court's second war against Titania is over," Merlin explained as he sat down, "But that doesn't mean that the surviving Unseelies won't cause problems. And your run in with these ravens is simply proof of that."

"You're saying one of those Unseelies summoned those birds?" Chloe asked.

Merlin nodded.

"Which one of the Unseelies do you think it is?" Gawain asked.

"More than likely, it's Morrigan," Merlin sighed, "She's the only one still alive that

uses ravens. But any fey could do it."

"Tomorrow we'll begin looking for her," Griff told the medieval wizard.

"For scouting purposes only," Merlin cautioned, "We only need to find out where her base is. Besides, a fey intent on causing trouble could kill you if you forced a confrontation. Especially now that the Unseelie Court is defeated and its former members can no longer dream of conquering the world. They won't be as confident about the victory and will try to end the battle much faster than they've done before."

Merlin sat quietly while the others watched in silence.

"Besides," Merlin continued, "I am most likely her primary target. We'll discuss this at

length later. Arthur has already turned in and I'm heading that way myself."

"Okay then," Griff sighed as Merlin left, "I guess things are going to be fairly busy

around here after all."

**Liverpool**

Demona and Wedrington quietly made their way back to the spot where they had slept the day before. Meeting his parents again had gone slightly better than Wedrington had expected. While he was certain that his parents had been frightened by his appearance and shocked by what had happened to him, they didn't completely overreact nor have an actual heart attack. On the other side of the coin, Demona didn't lose her temper and try to attack them.

"Thank you for helping me with all that," Wedrington spoke finally, "I don't think I could have done that alone."

"Yes," Demona answered, "But I do not want to go through that again. Your mother is far too nervous and your father looked like he was going to attack me every time he spoke."

"Sorry about that," Wedrington sighed, "He's always been somewhat confrontational. From what I've been told, his service in Korea made it worse."

"What service?" Demona asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The Korean War in the nineteen fifties," Wedrington explained, "My father was among the British troops that were sent to fight in that war through the UN."

"Ah," Demona nodded, "well, I'm still glad we won't have to do this again. I have more important things to do."

"So we're going back to New York?" Wedrington asked.

"Tomorrow night, yes," Demona answered, "It is too late to try now. We'd either turn to

stone on the roof the train on the ride back to London or on the airplane. We wait for tomorrow night."

Wedrington nodded as he sat down on a small tree stump.

**London**

"Just you wait," Morrigan smiled evilly as she looked out the small window in the room she was in, "sooner or later Merlin, you will be all alone. And then I'll have my chance to kill you."

**The End…**


	2. Mopping Up

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the"Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place three days after "Home Again".

Mopping Up

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**London**

Morrigan paced inside the basement of the home the former Unseelie had taken through her power. She was in deep thought as to how to separate Macbeth, Arthur, and the London clan from Merlin. Causing chaos was always an option, but it depended on Merlin never suspecting that there was a fey involved and staying out of the mix. But Morrigan couldn't rely on an excess of street crime to keep the gargoyles and Macbeth distracted long enough for her to deal with Merlin. Organized crime might be an option, but Morrigan was still trying to see into London's darker sectors and didn't know yet if there were large organized criminal syndicates.

She also couldn't gather enough slaves to distract her mortal opponents. She didn't have massive business to hide such numbers in, and she wasn't powerful enough to create one. None of her Unseelie compatriots were also here to help her.

"Maybe Mouse's idea of keeping the Court together wasn't such a bad decision after all," Morrigan muttered to herself, but she quickly changed her thoughts, "No. He would only want revenge on the Seelies, and it's quite clear that we've lost that war. He and his love for Madoc's cause. A blind fool. I can do better, and I don't need help to take care of one halfling and a few gargoyles."

Morrigan resumed her pacing again. She might need help if her plans were to be successful.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

"We may need your help in finding her," Arthur commented quietly, "The clan's looked all over in the past three nights and I've walked around myself during the day. We have no clue as to where Morrigan could be hiding."

"I'm not a hound," Merlin protested as the two sat drinking their morning tea with breakfast, "Simply having me accompany the clan's patrols will not draw her out."

"We've established that you are her primary target," Arthur argued, "You'd either sense her coming toward you or you could tell where her hideout is."

"As I said before, I'm not a hound," Merlin protested again, "I could locate where magic has been used, but I can't tell you who used the magic at that spot."

Merlin paused for a moment to take a bite of the food he was eating, and then continued.

"As for being the target," Merlin continued, "I doubt very much that she'll be willing to attack the clan and me at the same time. Especially now that Madoc is out of the way."

"So what can we do to draw her out?" Arthur asked, "We obviously can not let her terrorize London unchecked."

"I believe that in the long run it will come to a battle between myself and her after she's managed to distract you and the others away. And it will be Morrigan who comes after me."

Arthur looked like he was about to protest something, but Merlin cut him off.

"Not every battle will be yours to fight, Arthur," Merlin cautioned, "Don't try and do everything yourself."

"Almost makes me wish that Demona had remained," Arthur commented, "Her powers in magic in addition to being a gargoyle herself would be helpful."

"Yes, but she has already left with Wedrington for New York," Merlin answered, "We're going to have to figure this out on our own."

"What would you suggest as to the best method of dealing with Morrigan?" Arthur asked, "It's not like we can call Titania on Avalon for help. At least not easily."

"And we can not rely on the Legionnaire and or his partner showing up," Merlin added, "Their responsibilities go far beyond one area."

There was a brief silence before Merlin continued.

"As for defeating Morrigan," Merlin sighed, "I think that will hinge on your new profession."

"Huh?" Arthur asked, looking confused.

"Profession," Merlin replied, and then said somewhat humorously, but still with great respect, "You need a job your highness. It'll help take care of our current money 'situation' and if you take the right job, it could help in other areas."

"I am not qualified for a job though, Merlin," Arthur sighed, "What could I possibly do?"

"What about taking up a post as what the Yanks refer to as a 'PI'," Merlin suggested, "A 'Private Investigator'. Of course you'd have to register with the government and with Scotland Yard, but that shouldn't be too difficult."

"A 'Private Investigator'?" Arthur asked, "I'd assume that they at least know the basics of both detective work and the law. Of which, I am not that knowledgeable."

"I can help you with that," Merlin answered confidently, "but that sounds like the best source of work. It might even lead to some tips about what some of our more 'devious' enemies are up to."

"Alright then," Arthur sighed, "So let me guess, I have a crash course in law next?"

**Morrigan's Lair**

"What are your orders, mistress?" one of the apartment dwellers asked Morrigan as the Unseelie continued pacing inside her own private room.

Morrigan turned to face the slave. The escaped Unseelie had managed to enslave the entire apartment building that she had taken residence in, but since she didn't have to power to even risk duplicating what Madoc had done during his war, Morrigan worked more to keep her activities secret. Her slaves still went about their normal lives. She had worked her spell so that they could function under their own free will while they were outside the building and working in their jobs, although they had no memory of the fact that they were enslaved and that if Morrigan was present when they left the building, they would remain under the Unseelie's control.

"It appears that Arthur will not leave Merlin unguarded," Morrigan commented to the slave, "We are going to have to deal with his mortal allies before we will have Merlin alone."

"We are to fight the gargoyles?" the slave asked.

"We will probably have to," Morrigan sighed, "They have yet to leave Merlin unguarded, so we'll need to take out those that guard him. Arthur and Macbeth are both likely to participate in helping the gargoyles and they are the old wizard's weakness. Once they die, Merlin will come to me, and I will kill him!"

Morrigan turned to face the slave that she had been talking to. The slave stood there at attention.

"You and the others will need proper weaponry, however," Morrigan commented, "I can not go because that will only attract the attention of Titania and her followers. I don't want to take the risk until Merlin is alone."

The slave nodded, saying nothing.

"Gather the others," Morrigan ordered, "Tonight you will go gargoyle hunting."

"Yes, mistress," the slave bowed and then quickly ran to go about gathering the others.

Morrigan meanwhile turned to stare evilly at the mirror that hung in the room. Her face also showed serious frustration with the situation.

"I'll defeat your guardians, Merlin," Morrigan snarled, "Your weak spot. They'll die, and then you'll have to face me."

**Macbeth's Mansion, After Dusk**

"Are you sure you can't join us on patrol?" Griff asked Leo as the London clan slowly filed into the kitchen to gather whatever would be needed for their breakfast.

"Positively sure," Leo sighed, "Una and I are still working to get the shop open again, and we have to meet with the contractor to get the building permits that are needed."

"And I will need as much available time as possible to get the illusion spell ready," Una added, "Besides, you're likely to find her sooner or later. There are only so many places a villain like her can hide."

"Good luck then," Griff offered.

"What is the patrol schedule?" Gawain asked.

"You'll be with Octavia and me," Griff answered the young Avalon gargoyle, "And we will take the northern sections of London down to the docks. Julia and Chloe will lead Guinevere and Lancelot to patrol the southern sections of the city up to the docks. If Morrigan tries anything, one or both groups will find her."

"What about Arthur and Macbeth?" Chloe asked.

"They have volunteered to help Leo and Una, I believe," Octavia answered, "Just in case they get attacked."

"Yes, Arthur popped in while Una and I were packing the last of the paperwork that we would need before we came down here to join you," Leo commented, "They will be watching over us."

"Well, that takes care of the schedule then, doesn't it?" Griff chuckled, "Come on, might as well get some breakfast."

"What about Merlin?" Julia asked.

"He should be fine," Griff sighed, "He'll know if something is coming, and we're more likely to run into anything that might try to attack the mansion before it even gets there."

**Elsewhere**

Morrigan stood calmly in front of her gathered slaves on the rooftop of the apartment building that she had commandeered. All were armed with swords and wearing metal breastplates. Knowing that she would risk revealing herself to Seelie fey on Avalon if she joined her slaves on the hunt, she had altered her spell that kept her slaves under her control.

"You remember your instructions?" Morrigan questioned.

"We are to search the city quietly and undetected until we can find and ambush Merlin's mortal allies," the slaves answered in unison.

"And what are you to do, once you've ambushed them?" Morrigan continued the interrogation.

"Kill them," the slaves answered raising their swords.

"Good," Morrigan smiled, "Go now, and remember, do not allow yourselves to be seen until you have found Merlin's allies."

The slaves bowed and quickly headed for the stairs to head out into the night. Morrigan meanwhile decided to take a slight walk. She would continue her research of modern London and possibly see who was guarding Merlin tonight. She hoped that the London gargoyles were patrolling the way she had observed before, spread out and in small groups.

A middle aged man in charge of getting a building permit ready for any future building that was intended to be built looked on at four people. While two were strangers to him, the man recognized the other two people with them easily.

"Say, you two wouldn't be the two people the Queen knighted recently?" the man asked, "Forgive me, but I'm terrible with names."

"Yes," Arthur answered politely, remembering the events that immediately followed their finding of Merlin, "But our names for the moment are unimportant. We're here to help a couple of friends of ours."

Arthur then gestured towards the other two people who were seated there. The man looked over for the first time to get a good look at them. Both looked very fit, but at the same time struck the man as shopkeepers.

"Ah, yes," the man nodded, "May I help you…?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Griffin," Leo answered calmly, "I am Leo, and this is my… wife, Una."

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, what can I do to help you?" the man asked.

"Well, you see we own a shop that was down in Soho," Una explained, "But some arsonists burned it down recently. We've finally gotten through all the paperwork to deal with the insurance companies and to get the items that we have delivered to the shop for us to sell ready and we need to have the shop rebuilt."

"I heard about that," the man commented, "Why did you say so little in the paper about it?"

Leo turned to Una for a moment and quietly sighed. Merlin had cast a spell that essentially gave brief statements to both the police and the newspapers on the incident when Morrigan had burned down the shop, but no one had actually spoken in person.

"We're really very quiet people," Una answered, "We didn't comment more because we didn't feel we absolutely had to."

"May I as how you know…?" the man began to ask, "Again, I'm sorry, what where your names again?"

"Lennox MacDuff and Arthur Dragon," Macbeth answered slowly, sounding slightly agitated.

The man nodded and then turned back to Leo and Una, "May I ask how you know Sir MacDuff and Sir Dragon?"

"Both Arthur and Lennox have offered to help us from time to time," Leo answered, "They've been old friends of ours, they're here to help."

"I see," the man nodded, "And you want to rebuild your shop?"

"Yes," Una nodded, "On its original site. We own the land there; we just need the building permit and a contractor to build a new shop building."

"Well, you've come to the right place," the man nodded, and rolled his chair over to a set of filing cabinets, "Let's get everything started."

**Outside Macbeth's Mansion**

Morrigan's eyes widened as she looked inside the building that Arthur and his allies had taken residence in. She had periodically come to visit the building over past few days to see if they had left Merlin alone or to see who was there. Normally, the Unseelie had sensed the presence of two gargoyles and one human in addition to Merlin. Now, the Unseelie sensed something totally different.

"You're alone tonight?" Morrigan exclaimed quietly, "I send my slaves out to kill your friends to get you alone, and I find you alone anyway?"

Morrigan sensed Merlin on the second floor of the mansion and he was alone. Morrigan looked in the general direction in which she sensed Merlin's presence and smiled evilly.

"You've just bit the dust, you stupid wizard," Morrigan whispered quietly and vanished from view.

Merlin was meanwhile involved in studying more about the Holy Grail and how it would be necessary to Arthur in the future. He didn't have the Grail with him, but he didn't need it to read a book. He had just turned a page when the wall near him suddenly and violently exploded,

making a large hole that let Merlin look out into the night. Who he saw floating in the opening was not someone he saw.

"Morrigan?!" Merlin growled angrily.

"Yes," Morrigan smiled, "and no gargoyle guardians for you!"

The escaped Unseelie then conjured up several darts that looked like ravens to a great extent and flung them at Merlin. The medieval wizard managed to avoid being hit directly by the fey's attack but quickly found that the darts exploded upon impact with anything they touched.

The shockwave from the multiple explosions threw Merlin into a nearby wall.

"My, you've gotten rusty since Wyvern," Morrigan laughed and then conjured up a fireball and threw it at Merlin, "Almost makes me sad I'm going to kill you. Almost."

Merlin had by now recovered enough from the surprise at finding that the Unseelie had attacked him to conjure up a shield around himself. The Unseelie fireball was easily absorbed by Merlin's shield, but the wizard did feel the strain of maintaining the shield. He couldn't keep it up for long, not against a full blooded fey. Once Morrigan's attack had been absorbed by his shield, Merlin shut the shield down and ran out the door into another section of the mansion.

"Arthur left Excalibur here when he left to help Leo and Una," Merlin thought to himself as he ran, "That may be my best chance."

"Running are we, Merlin?" Morrigan teased from behind him, "Not exactly heroic, now is it?"

Merlin ignored him until he came to Arthur's room. Hopefully the Once and Future King had left his sword there. To Merlin's surprise, he found that the sword was not there.

"Arthur would never allow anyone to steal Excalibur," Merlin thought, "Where could it be?"

"Looking for Pendragon to save you?" Morrigan asked as she floated in behind him.

Merlin turned and fired a lightning spell at the Unseelie. Morrigan had come too close to be able to dodge the attack and was thrown out the open door. Merlin then quickly chanted in Latin.

"Sword of stone sheath, send a beacon to me for your own safety," Merlin chanted.

As soon as Merlin's chant finished, the medieval wizard began picking up magical pulse waves that were being sent to him by Excalibur, thanks to his spell. He then turned and ran back into the hall to begin following those pulses to its source. Noticing that Morrigan was beginning to recover as well, Merlin hit the Unseelie with another lightning spell, insuring that she wouldn't be able to overtake him and get to the sword first.

**Over London**

Griff's patrol hadn't come across much. Their search hadn't had much luck in finding any sign of the Unseelie that was on the loose, nor did they find the sign of any other major criminal activity. There were still the average street criminals, but they were not real danger to gargoyles and were easily stopped.

"We should have found her by now," Griff grumbled in a frustrated voice, while Octavia tied several of the thieves together with their own crowbars, "Or at least a sign."

"The Unseelie aren't going to just pop out of nowhere," Octavia cautioned, "They lost the war and are divided. Hiding is their best option for survival."

"And their best option to plot evil doings," Griff grumbled, "I feel powerless when we keep looking and finding no sign of any Unseelie activity."

"We will stop Morrigan eventually," Octavia encouraged, "She can not hide for long."

"I'm still hoping we can find her quickly," Griff answered as he began to scale the wall of a nearby building, leaving the crooks for the police.

"Maybe we could warn the people of Morrigan's presence?" Gawain offered, "She couldn't hide if the whole city were looking for her."

"Maybe, but it would have to be Arthur, Merlin, or Macbeth that tell the authorities about Morrigan, and they would be sent to an insane asylum for it," Griff sighed, "What we need are more gargoyles to patrol. But…"

"Leo and Una are the only other gargoyles available," Octavia finished, "Not much help, they are helpful, but we need more than two?"

Griff nodded, "Yes. We need more than two."

Griff then looked over the skyline that London provided and sighed.

"We're going to have to cope with only having the numbers that we have," Griff sighed.

Octavia and Gawain nodded slowly as the three then took to the air once more to continue their patrol. All three of them hoped they would discover something that would lead them to Morrigan and allow them to stop the Unseelie.

"Ouff!" a thug grunted as Chloe drove her fist into his stomach.

The forest green female then turned to check on the others. Julia had easily dealt with the two thugs that had rushed her, while Lancelot and Guinevere teamed up to deal with the final street criminal. Like Griff's patrol group, they had not come across anything more serious then

common street thugs.

"It's amazing how easily you're able to deal with these guys," Chloe commented to the Roman gargoyle, "I think you had knocked both of those guys out before anyone else had fully won their 'fight'."

"It's all in the training," Julia shrugged as she looked for something that could be used to restrain the criminals they had caught, "The Legionnaire trained Octavia and I in gladiatorial combat ever since we were old enough to swing a sword."

Lancelot was about to ask something when he was startled to hear a voice speak from behind them.

"Gargoyles," the voice growled.

The four gargoyles then turned to see roughly ten people standing along the deserted sidewalk. All of them were wearing metal breastplates and were holding swords.

"For the Mistress!" one of the people proclaimed loudly and charged toward them with his sword held high.

The other humans quickly followed suit. All of them charged forward with swords raised. Lancelot and Guinevere tripped a couple that had come toward them and prepared to deal with two more that were coming behind them.

"These just might be the sign of Morrigan that we've been looking for," Julia commented as she dodged two attackers's sword thrusts and punched the third in the face before he could raise his sword.

Julia then grabbed the man's sword before his body hit the ground and then moved the weapon to block the attacks made by the other two slaves with their swords.

"And of course they have to be armed," Chloe commented as she ducked as one of Morrigan's slaves swung her sword over Chloe's head.

Chloe then punched the slave in stomach, taking the wind out of her and knocking her to the ground. The slave lost consciousness as her head bounced on the concrete of the sidewalk. Chloe's victory was short lived as she quickly had to retreat back to avoid being chopped into pieces by the two slaves that were behind the first one that had attacked her.

"What I want to know is why didn't she mutate them?" Guinevere asked, "They're obviously enslaved, why didn't Morrigan mutate them like Madoc did with the slaves he had in New York."

"I doubt she has the formula for that process," Julia answered as she used expert swordsmanship to disarm the two slaves that been battling with her, without doing either slave physical harm.

Guinevere dodged a slave's clumsy attack at her and tripped her opponent with her tail. The white female then had to scramble forward as one of the earlier slaves that she had tripped had recovered and had come charging at her again. She quickly glanced to see how Lancelot was

fairing. The male Avalonian gargoyle had managed to catch his attacker's hands before he could drive his sword into the gargoyle. In one motion, Lancelot then took the sword and threw the man across the street. He landed hard and lost consciousness.

"Guinevere!" Lancelot called to her as he turned and charged forward, hoping to deal with the slave that was chasing the female.

"Behind you!" Guinevere screamed with fear as she saw the other slave that she and Lancelot had tripped earlier raise his sword high to strike Lancelot.

Lancelot turned and barely got his sword up in time to block the slave's attack. The slave didn't get the chance at a second blow as Julia came up behind the slave and knocked him out with a single punch. Lancelot then looked around to see that both Chloe and Guinevere had dealt with their opponents as well.

"We need to get them back to Merlin," Julia commented looking down at the unconscious slaves, "He can free them from their enslavement, and then they can give us the answers we need about Morrigan's whereabouts."

"We'll need something besides these swords to tie them up with," Chloe warned, "Even if the swords wouldn't break when we bend them, the blade would cut them. We need something that won't break so easily and won't do them physical harm."

"Right," Lancelot acknowledged, "I think I saw a fire escape back there in that alley. Can we use the bars from the fire escape's railing?"

Chloe looked in the direction in which Lancelot was pointing and shrugged.

"I guess so," Chloe answered, "If there is a fire escape there."

Lancelot and Guinevere immediately went to check.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Merlin stumbled down the last few stairs as he rushed as quickly as he could to reach wherever Arthur had placed Excalibur. The magical pulses that Merlin was following had so far led him to the basement where Arthur and Macbeth had set up exercise rooms where they or clan could work out. Morrigan chased after him throwing fireballs or her explosive raven darts at him as he went. He finally found Arthur's sword lying in its scabbard against the far wall. Merlin ran to it as quickly as he could and pulled out Excalibur and pointed it at the attacking Unseelie.

"Your King's precious sword won't save you," Morrigan laughed, "I'm a full blooded fey. I'm not stupid enough to let you get close enough to stab me. And my attacks will wear you down before yours even have a chance of doing me serious harm. And you're alone. No gargoyles to help you."

"You over estimate your abilities," Merlin answered.

Morrigan only threw a wide barrage of raven darts at the medieval wizard. Most of the darts landed around Merlin, but like the rest of the Unseelie's weapons, they exploded upon contact and the one that didn't go around Merlin, exploded upon hitting his chest. Morrigan only laughed as the resulting explosions knocked Merlin against a far wall.

"I doubt that is over estimation," Morrigan laughed.

Merlin rolled on the ground to avoid being hit by a fireball that Morrigan threw at him. He tried to hit the Unseelie with a lightning spell, but Morrigan dodged the attack and let Merlin's attack hit the ceiling above her. Fortunately for Merlin, part of ceiling fell and landed

directly on Morrigan's head. It wasn't all that heavy, but Morrigan wasn't expecting it hit her and the falling pieces of ceiling knocked her to ground.

Merlin got up and scrambled forward and swung Excalibur as best he could to try and do the escaped Unseelie some harm. Merlin was, however, unfamiliar with using such a weapon and all he managed to do was make a small cut in Morrigan's arm. The fey hissed with pain, but looked to be in no real disadvantage.

Morrigan blasted the pile of ceiling debris off of her and rose into the air. She glanced at the thin red line that Merlin had left in her upper arm with Excalibur's blade.

"You do realize Merlin that Iron must remain in contact with me in order to do damage?" Morrigan laughed again, "Giving me paper cuts won't help you."

"You can't win," Merlin retorted.

"And the defiant bravado comes forth once more," Morrigan laughed and attacked.

Outside the mansion, Arthur, Macbeth, Una, and Leo made their way toward the front steps somewhat quietly. Leo was carefully holding a large business folder.

"I'm glad that's all over with," Macbeth grumbled.

"It wasn't all that bad," Arthur replied, "The man was just curious, that's all."

"He was star struck," Macbeth grumbled back.

"Well, most modern 'knights' do not go to common agencies," Una commented as they walked through the doors and Una uttered the words that removed the illusion that made her and Leo appear human.

"Maybe so, but…" Macbeth was cut off when he saw the remnants of Morrigan's attacks on Merlin as the fey had chased the wizard through the mansion, "What the devil?!"

They then heard an explosion rattle the mansion from below.

"That came from the basement," Arthur exclaimed and then sprinted for the stairs, "Come on, Merlin may be in danger."

Macbeth and the others followed quickly. They found much of the interior burned away, as if by fire or by explosions. Macbeth himself was reminded of many old battlefields that had traversed trying to find Demona.

"It looks like a war zone moved through here," Macbeth commented.

The mansion shook again as something exploded inside the building.

"It hasn't left yet, either," Leo added as he noticed the door to the stairway that led to the basement was not only ajar, but off its hinges.

"Morrigan must have attacked while we were gone and the others were on patrol," Arthur commented, "We've got to get to Merlin before he's killed."

Merlin rolled along the mat that covered the floor of the exercise room to avoid a fireball that Morrigan threw at him. Once he could get to a kneeling position, he quickly fired a lightning spell at the Unseelie. Morrigan however raised a shield around herself and was not harmed in any way by Merlin's attack.

"Poor, old fool," Morrigan laughed, "You should have surrendered when you had your chance. Now that I've finally beaten you, I will make your suffering slow."

Morrigan then threw one fireball and one of her explosive raven darts. The dart landed on the ground first, and the resulting shockwave knocked Merlin into the fireball. The blast sent Merlin sprawling back and he quickly put out the fires that had started on his clothing. The Medieval wizard then decided to emulate one of Morrigan's tactics. The fey had either dodged his attacks or was able to shield herself from them. He had to launch an attack that would come from all angles. He managed to create four spheres of solid energy, and sent them into the Unseelie from four sides.

Morrigan was not prepared to deal with such an attack and each energy sphere hit her. She screamed with pain as the four energy spheres hit her and forced her to drop to the ground. She knew that she was more powerful than Merlin, he was only a halfling while she was a full blooded fey, but Merlin was an exceptionally powerful halfing. She would have to expect such types of attacks.

Merlin rushed forward and raised Excalibur to finish off the Unseelie. Morrigan rolled at the last second however, and the blade only went through her shoulder. Morrigan screamed with pain as the blade pierced her shoulder. She struggled to get the blade out of her, but Merlin put all of his weight behind the weapon to hold it in place. It was at this time that Arthur, Macbeth, Leo, and Una came into the exercise room.

"Morrigan!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Yes," Merlin sighed, "She attacked shortly after everyone left."

"We need to get some Iron chains," Macbeth commented and began to turn around, "Something that will hold her."

"That is unnecessary, Macbeth," came a trio of voices, speaking in unison.

They turned to see the Weird Sisters appear in the room, floating between Merlin and Arthur and the others.

"What are you doing here?" Macbeth asked.

Luna turned to face the immortal Scotsman, "To finish what has begun."

"The Morrigan will be released into our care," Selene added.

"She must face trial before the Queen for her crimes," Phoebe finished.

"Titania sent you?" Merlin asked.

"Yes," the Sisters spoke in unison, "The Unseelie Court caused much trouble for the fey race and the rest of the world. It is the Queen's judgment that all leading members of that court are to be punished accordingly."

"What will happen to her?" Arthur asked, pointing at Morrigan.

"She will be taken to Avalon and tried for her crimes," the Sisters answered, "which could possibly include her recent actions as we scoured much of Britain before finding her here."

Luna then turned to Merlin, "We did not expect that Merlin had already completed the 'mopping up' phase of this operation."

"Mopping up?" Leo asked.

"Queen Titania does not want the Unseelies to recover their power again," Selene answered, "And we are ordered to comb the world for their followers. Those that hide well may escape, but the ones that cause trouble will be found."

"This Unseelie will cause no more trouble," Phoebe finished.

And with that, the Weird Sisters vanished with the Morrigan. This left the others to deal with the remnants of the Merlin's fight with the Unseelie.

"I caused quite a mess, didn't I?" Merlin chuckled as he looked over the damage.

"We're glad that she didn't kill you," Arthur answered quickly as they came up the stairs, "The damage is repairable."

Merlin nodded, "I'll get to fixing the worst of it."

The Medieval wizard went straight to work in terms of using his magic to repair the structural damage. It took a fair amount of time to gather all the materials that had been damaged, but Merlin was able to do so. It was nearly dawn by the time he finished repairing the damage that the battle with Morrigan had caused. It was also about that time that Griff and his patrol team returned. Merlin was surprised to see that they had come carrying several unconscious people, tied together by pieces of a fire escape that they had found.

"Griff…" Merlin began to say.

"They're people that Morrigan enslaved," Griff answered quickly, "They attacked us on patrol."

Merlin took another look at them. Sure enough he could sense the presence of a spell on them. He sighed heavily.

"Well, this will deal with the last of the Morrigan, then," Merlin sighed as he used his magic to remove their restraints.

"What do you mean?" Julia asked.

"The Morrigan attacked here and was dealt with," Merlin answered, "She is currently being returned to Avalon to face trial."

"That does take care of things then," Octavia commented.

"Yes it does," Merlin nodded as he set to work at freeing Morrigan's slaves.

**Avalon**

"I don't see why you don't kill me now," Morrigan growled as she was held by two Seelie fey before Titania's throne.

"It would be dishonorable and cowardly to do so," Titania answered calmly, "You have committed great crimes. You must be tried before any punishment can be carried out."

"I was just trying to have fun," Morrigan grumbled.

"Fun that has cost people their lives in addition to fighting against the Seelie Court with your Unseelie comrades," Titania countered.

"They're mortals, it is their destiny to be ruled," Morrigan countered, "It's our birthright to have fun with them."

"We all must inhabit this world, Morrigan," Titania answered, "And the mortals grow stronger in their technology."

"Our magic is superior," Morrigan interrupted.

"Maybe so," Titania answered, "But no one has the right to torment or control others because of their superiority. Furthermore, Oberon's law commands all fey stay out of mortal affairs. You have broken that law."

"A foolish law," Morrigan snorted.

"Do you deny breaking it?" Titania asked.

"No," Morrigan answered, "What I deny is its authority. Your husband's silly law has no affect on me."

Titania frowned, "So be it."

The Seelie queen then stood up and walked toward the captured Unseelie. After taking a few steps, Titania stopped and raised one hand.

"I have a very fitting punishment for you," Titania commented before chanting…

"Villain with raven'swing,

you cause pain whenyou sing,

drop your evilforever,

and join your birds of a feather."

Morrigan looked on horrified as emerald energy leapt from Titania's fingertips and enveloped her. She looked down at herself and saw her arms and legs rearranging themselves. She also saw black feathers growing out of her skin.

"NO!" Morrigan screamed as she felt her powers drain and her own body begin to shrink in size.

By the time it was over, Morrigan had shrunk down to that of a raven and was seated inside a metal birdcage. Titania picked up the bird cage and handed it to the Sisters.

"She that she is properly taken care off," Titania commanded.

The three fey bowed and then turned and headed off for what was a small aviary elsewhere in the castle.

**London**

Merlin, Arthur, and Macbeth sat quietly around the breakfast table. Freeing Morrigan's slaves wasn't that hard, but trying to explain to them why they weren't in their apartments when they woke up was another matter. Merlin explained that they had been found, unconscious in an

alley and were brought to the mansion for their own safety. It took a while to explain everything, but they eventually bought it and left. This left the three men exhausted.

"At least we don't have to worry about Morrigan anymore," Arthur commented.

"You still have hard work ahead of you, Arthur," Merlin warned, "Remember that we are yet to face Britain's greatest hour of need."

"You mean…" Arthur began to ask.

"The Morrigan was hardly the beginning," Merlin said seriously, "The Lady of the Lake said it is coming, and we must be ready."

**The End…**


	3. Boredom

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two weeks after "Mopping Up".

Boredom

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**London**

Arthur sat still from behind the wheel of the small car that Macbeth had purchased to help Arthur with his own work. Setting up the private investigative agency hadn't been too difficult for Arthur and Merlin to accomplish. Macbeth had even helped get the wording right so that people wouldn't be afraid to bring cases that might normally be found as 'strange' and 'unbelievable'. However, most of the cases that had come in so far had to deal with domestic issues as he was sent after spouses who were supposedly cheating on their husband or wife.

And that was one of the type of cases he was on now. He slowly snapped a few photographs as a middle aged man embraced and passionately kissed a woman at what the man hoped was a quiet corner. All the while, Arthur was disgusted and ashamed. He assumed that he would be involved more in work that might lead them toward finding out what 'Britain's greatest hour of need' would be, or at least solving some serious crime. Instead Arthur found himself following people for not being faithful. It made Arthur miserable. He had been the High King of all Britain at one time. Somehow this work seemed to be not only below him, but petty and intrusive. He felt like he was spying on people he had long ago sworn to protect. At times he sympathized with the clients that had contacted him, especially considering how his relationship with Queen Guinevere had ended, but Arthur still couldn't feel doing anything worthwhile by spying on people.

Once the man and woman turned and slowly disappeared inside one of the apartment building they were standing near, Arthur started his car and left the scene slowly. He would need to return to the mansion to develop the film in the camera, which he would later have to present to his client for this specific job. He hoped the others were having a more productive night.

**The Mansion**

Merlin sat tiredly lobbying over several texts, trying to find any sort of clue as to what might lead to a great calamity. Something that would require someone like Arthur to come to the rescue. So far he hadn't found much of anything. Of course helping Leo and Una continue their work to try and get their shop restarted and helping Arthur get his own job going did cut down on the time the Medieval wizard had to study his collection of old books, but they might help in the long run, and it did give him a break from endlessly flipping through pages.

"Any luck?" Leo asked as he came into Merlin's small study.

Merlin looked up to see the lion-like gargoyle was carrying a cup of tea with him, and was obviously taking a break from his own work.

"Not much," Merlin commented, "If any. Most of the texts that I've found have little connection to the 'Arthurian legend'. You wouldn't believe how many sorcerers besides Nostradamus knew about things before they happened."

"Wouldn't that help?" Leo asked curiously.

"It could," Merlin nodded, "But Nostradamus worked to find out the great evils of the world, or at least the times of greatest peril. There isn't enough in his work that relates to Britain's 'greatest hour of need'."

"Didn't he predict the Great Fire of London?" Leo asked.

"Yes, but remember Arthur was still in his enchanted sleep on Avalon, and I was not called to wake him," Merlin answered, "Much of what Nostradamus predicted that had a direct relation to Britain occurred before Detective Maza awakened Arthur on Avalon."

Merlin was silent for a moment before he continued.

"And that is the real problem," Merlin continued, "Arthur was to sleep until Britain's 'greatest hour of need'. While he slept, Oberon and Titania had both promised that when the time came, I would be called to Avalon to awaken Arthur. But since Detective Maza awakened Arthur early, that promise no longer matters, and it is imperative that we find out when this 'greatest hour of need' is."

"I thought you would already know that," Leo commented.

"All I know is the criteria to fulfill the prophesy," Merlin answered, "The exact date and what will be the action that creates Britain's 'greatest hour of need' is what I don't know. Which sometimes makes me wish that Detective Maza had let Arthur finish his sleep, so that I could be called when the time came."

"You don't have to be too hard on her for it," Leo said calmly.

"To be honest, I'm not," Merlin sighed, "She is female of great character, whether her species be gargoyle or human, and she did have a good reason for awakening Arthur at the time. I actually blame myself. I should have paid attention to the fact that Avalon was in direct danger when the Archmage attacked the island. I also should have noticed that my own spell had been broken to aide the island's defense. Detective Maza may have awakened him early, but there is a lot more that I could have done to help, either to defend the island or directly help Arthur after he awakened. But, I did nothing."

"You don't need to be so hard on yourself, either," Leo commented, "These things happen, and I'm sure we can get through it."

Merlin was silent for a moment.

"I hope so," Merlin nodded, "How goes your work at getting the shop ready?"

"Una and I checked over the old shop site," Leo answered, "They've already begun building a new shop there. We should be ready to start ordering inventory in about two weeks."

"That'll be good," Merlin said, "Many of the books that you and your mate stock might be helpful in discerning this prophesy. Especially if they have anything to do with the 'Arthurian legend'."

"Again, I must ask," Leo sighed, "Shouldn't you and Arthur be experts on that subject?"

"Much of the legend is either completely false or exaggerated," Merlin sighed, "And I was not the only wizard in Britain at the time that helped Arthur's court. There were others, which is left out in the legend. And I did not create the prophesy concerning Britain's 'greatest hour of need'. I only found it, and tried to get it to work so that fulfilling it would be easy. Another thing left out of the legend. Now I have failed in part of it, and can not fail in the other. I must discover what Britain's 'greatest hour of need' is, or the prophesy will fail."

"Remember that we will always help you," Leo answered.

"I know," Merlin smiled, "And I think it's time I took a break from this for tonight."

Merlin slowly shut the large book he had been studying, stood up, and stretched. Leo calmly followed the medieval wizard out.

Meanwhile on a balcony on the back of the mansion, the first group of gargoyles that had gone on patrol for the night had returned. Griff cloaked his wings around his shoulders, while Octavia tucked her wings against her back as they walked in. Gawain followed close behind them. It had been quiet since the final defeat of the Morrigan and the gargoyles had only been able to foil a few minor street crimes.

"Things have certainly calmed down since we've beaten Morrigan," Gawain commented.

"Hopefully they stay calm for awhile," Griff answered, "Arthur and Merlin have been worried to death over finding out this 'greatest hour of need' thing. The last thing we need are greater problems."

"I'm not complaining," Gawain said back quickly, "It's actually given Lancelot, Guinevere, and I some spare time to explore the city. It's very interesting, not New York, but still interesting."

"It's good that you and your brother and sister enjoy London," Griff chuckled, "You haven't been getting into any trouble, now, have you?"

"Of course not!" Gawain answered quickly.

The young Avalon gargoyle then turned and headed off into a different section of the mansion.

"Their enthusiasm for their new surroundings is quite admirable," Octavia commented, "I must be honest that neither Julia, nor myself, wished to leave Rome when we joined your clan, but it was something we had to do. And now…"

Octavia placed a hand on Griff's shoulder in a fairly friendly manner.

"…I do not regret that we did come here," Octavia continued, "You and your clan have been most helpful and I'm sure the knowledge of the Roman Order will live on."

"Uhh… thanks," Griff gulped somewhat nervously.

The two then continued quietly on their own way into the mansion.

**Elsewhere**

Jeremy Irons quietly walked into a fairly dark office in one of the main buildings of London's busy business district.

"You sent for me, sir?" Jeremy asked after shutting the door behind him.

"Yes," a man hidden in the shadows answered simply.

"What is it that you wish?" Jeremy asked.

"I trust you have received word that the master's ally has been defeated?" the man questioned.

"Madoc?" Jeremy said back, "Yes, I heard that through our sources, yes."

"Our information indicates that Arthur Pendragon and Macbeth of Scotland were involved in the final battle between the Seelie and Unseelie Fey," the man continued, "And have since returned here."

"What are your orders, sir?" Jeremy asked.

"Macbeth and Pendragon are threats to our society, Mr. Irons," the man answered, "Not direct threats. The Council does not believe they will attack us, but there are many things that we are involved in, that they may disapprove of. Your instructions for now are simply to observe Macbeth and Pendragon, Mr. Irons. Use any methods and technology you find necessary to obtain ANY information you can. You are also to inform me of any and all information you uncover."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered, "I assume this mission is to begin immediately?"

"It is," the man nodded.

"I'd best get going then," Jeremy answered, "I have work to do."

The man nodded and let Jeremy Irons leave his office. Once the door shut again, he calmly picked up his phone.

"Four, this Agent Anglo," the man spoke quietly, "Inform the Council that its orders are being carried out."

**The Mansion**

"So, how goes things with you?" Chloe asked as she sat on a couch in Macbeth's private study.

"Busy," Macbeth answered, "Teaching isn't an easy job by any means, and aiding you and the others in their patrols does add to the work that I need to do."

"I guess that means you're glad things have been going slow on 'crime' front since the Morrigan was defeated and you don't need to help us every night?" Chloe asked again.

"I guess so," Macbeth answered, "Although there are some nights where Arthur needs my help with his work or Merlin needs help with his research."

"Oh," Chloe looked down, "I can help with that."

"You would need to talk to Merlin about that," Macbeth replied, "And it's getting close to the time when he quits for the night. I'm not that far away, myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chloe said quickly, "I'll leave if I'm keeping you up."

Macbeth shook his head. It was still obvious to immortal Scotsman that forest green female thought of him as more then a friend, and while Macbeth at first really didn't approve of it, he had gotten used to it. Part of him even liked Chloe in much same way. Macbeth chalked it up to a youthful persistence that most others lacked. He was also thankful that his present company was not opposed to the idea.

"It is alright," Macbeth answered.

Chloe was about to say more when they both heard Arthur walk by the door, mumbling about something to himself. Somewhat curious, Chloe immediately went to the door. "Is something wrong?" Chloe asked aloud before Arthur could turn the corner to head into his makeshift dark room.

"Oh, no," Arthur sighed, "Just the daily grind. Is Macbeth in? I could use help with the film."

"I am," Macbeth answered as he and Chloe came out and approached the Once and Future King.

Chloe left for a different room soon after, leaving the two former kings alone. Macbeth calmly followed Arthur into the dark room. Neither was an expert photographer, but having been alive and awake, both Macbeth and Merlin had picked up on the basics of the technology and the very basics on how to develop the film.

Macbeth quietly helped Arthur do the work he needed to do to develop the rolls of film.

"Work hasn't changed much, has it?" Macbeth asked as he eyed some of the photographs, barely making out the images.

"Yes," Arthur commented in a frustrated voice, "And it's driving me crazy."

"Remember it's a job," Macbeth commented.

"I feel like I'm spying on people," Arthur argued, "Not exactly chivalrous."

"There isn't many things in the modern world that fit into the old world of chivalry and adventure," Macbeth commented, "Also remember that the 'cases' you've been hired to deal with are dealing with people who are making some pretty bad choices."

"I'm not complaining about the fact that what I'm doing is important," Arthur sighed, "I just feel that some of this just seems like I'm trying to spy on people's private lives. I just don't feel that is right. I thought people would come to me with some crime report or at least something that might help us find out what Britain's 'greatest hour of need' would be."

"Some cases like that will probably come in," Macbeth said in an even handed voice, "No one is going to bring a beginner a tough case. You're just going to have to tough some of this stuff out."

"I know," Arthur nodded, "It just frustrates me and…"

"You need to gripe to someone?" Macbeth suggested.

"I suppose so," Arthur sighed, "What does 'gripe' mean?"

"Complain," Macbeth answered.

The two worked quietly for a few minutes before everything was finally set up and all they had to do was wait for the film to develop.

"Do you know how Merlin's coming along with his research?" Arthur asked.

"You're probably making more progress with your work then he is," Macbeth answered, "Much of what he's found that might qualify as Britain's 'greatest hour of need' has either already happened, or isn't believable."

Arthur sighed, "Maybe we've already faced it or it's already been faced."

"Or the prophesy is false," Macbeth added, "It's a possibility, but it would be wise to wait until Merlin can uncover the truth behind it. I'm no expert on these things."

Arthur nodded, "I know that. I think I will turn in for the night though. I can take care of the pictures tomorrow."

"And I have papers to grade," Macbeth nodded, and departed, Arthur heading for his room, Macbeth heading for his study.

**The Next Day**

The sun shone brightly as Jeremy Irons entered the same office that he had the previous night. His contact was still seated behind his desk, looking very authoritative.

"I have my first report ready," Jeremy announced.

The man smiled and took a folder-envelope from Jeremy.

"Excellent," the man replied, "I see your proficiency remains true to form."

Jeremy nodded.

"So what have you gathered so far?" the man asked.

"Pendragon is working as a 'private investigator' while Macbeth has returned to the teaching profession," Jeremy answered, "At least that is their official cover."

"You believe there is something more?" the man questioned.

Jeremy quickly nodded, "Our spy bugs discovered a lot of the conversations that were going on far away from a window. The wizard Merlin is researching into something called 'Britain's greatest hour of need' and many of the gargoyles were concerned with how 'quiet' the city has been since the defeat of someone they referred to as 'Morrigan'."

"They are still dwelling on the conflict they had with the master's former 'allies'," the man mused, "Interesting. Continue studying Merlin's and Pedragon's activities, use the spy bugs if you have to, but we must continue to get more information."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy nodded.

Once Jeremy left the room, the man once again picked up his phone.

"Report," ordered a firm voice on the other line.

"Pendragon and Macbeth intend to save Britain during its greatest hour of need," the man answered, "Which I believe is supposed to occur in one of the Mage's prophecies."

There were as firm sigh on the other end of the line.

"Four, I am going to request of the Mage's prophecies," the man said in a somewhat week voice, "If they are doing something that goes against those prophecies, we must do something to stop them."

"Yes," Four answered, "We must do something to stop them. The Council will get you your copy of the prophecies as soon as possible. It will be imperative that the at least Arthur is stopped prior to Britain's 'greatest hour of need'. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," the man nodded, "The Council's orders will be carried out."

"Good," was Four's reply.

**London Suburban Home**

Arthur carefully knocked on the door of the fairly small home. It had a second floor from what Arthur could see, but the building was also wedged between two other buildings of a similar design. The changes in architecture was one of the many things that always amazed him. He was about to knock again when he heard footsteps pounding on a wood floor coming from inside the home.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," a woman's voice repeated loudly.

Arthur stood patiently as the woman appeared at the door, and opened it.

"Hello Mrs. Trent…" Arthur began to say when the woman interrupted him.

"Oh! Mr. Dragon, come in, come in," Mrs. Trent said quickly and stepped backward letting Arthur walk in, "Jacob's gone for the day to work, so he shouldn't be interrupting anything."

Arthur nodded, guessing that was the only thing he could do, and spared a glance at Mrs. Trent. He sighed as she did so. She was middle aged and it was obvious that she had led a fairly difficult life. Juggling work and raising children had left her looking very tired and worn. It made what Arthur had to tell her all the more difficult.

"Did you find anything, Mr. Dragon?" Mrs. Trent asked as she offered Arthur a chair at her kitchen table.

Arthur looked down and produced a large folder from inside his coat. With a slightly shaking hand, he handed the folder to Mrs. Trent.

"I'm afraid I have, Mrs. Trent," Arthur said weakly, "I'm terribly sorry."

Mrs. Trent looked at the photographs for a moment and obviously looked like her heart was breaking. In the first photo, her husband was seen exiting his office building with a woman barely half his age. His arm was wrapped around the woman. The next showed him with the same woman standing at a street corner, near no spot where a taxi would stop to pick one of them up, and both of them were locked in a rather passionate looking kiss. The third and final picture showed them walking in an apartment building.

"I've… I've always… I've always suspected," Mrs. Trent sniffled, "But I didn't think it would be so… so…"

"Blatant?" Arthur offered.

"I suppose so," Mrs. Trent answered.

"I, uh, have some audio recordings of his conversations with the woman as well," Arthur commented weakly, "Do you want to hear them or…"

"No, I think I've heard enough," Mrs. Trent said back weakly.

"Again, I'm very sorry about all this," Arthur commented as he stood up to leave.

"It's not your fault," Mrs. Trent said back, "I just want to know why he's done this."

"Anyone would, Mrs. Trent," Arthur answered, "Nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed," Mrs. Trent replied, "Just heartbroken."

"Again," Arthur repeated, "I'm sorry all of this has happened."

"Thank you, Mr. Dragon," Mrs. Trent said weakly, "I suppose you'll want your payment now?"

Before Arthur could protest anything, Mrs. Trent left the room and returned a few moments later with her purse.

"It's not news a particularly wanted to hear, but you did a good job," Mrs. Trent said, trying to regain some of her own strength, "I have to pay you, considering the job you've done."

Mrs. Trent then reached into her purse and after a few minutes of rummaging produced the amount of money that Arthur and Merlin had agreed was doable for the advertisement they had made for Arthur's private investigative agency.

"There you go," Mrs. Trent said weakly, "Hopefully you get some cases that are 'better' then this one."

"I hope so too," Arthur sighed, "I think I should be leaving now."

Mrs. Trent nodded and slowly led Arthur back to the front door. Arthur tried to look as sympathetic as he could as he left.

**Mansion, Later**

"Well, I've completed my first case," Arthur sighed as he sat down in a large couch in the mansion's welcoming room.

"You've done well, Arthur," Merlin replied, "I know these things are hard, but they still happen and still have to be taken care of. You wouldn't want that woman to stay with someone who would only pretend to love her?"

"No," Arthur answered, "It still doesn't change the feeling that I'm spying on people, and it doesn't change old memories."

"You can not change the past, Arthur," Merlin cautioned, "Neither can I. What happened between you, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot is the past. Don't dwell on it."

"I know," Arthur sighed, "Sometimes I just wish things from the past wouldn't seem to replay themselves in the future."

"I know," Merlin nodded, "But remember, these things happen."

**Elsewhere**

The man known as 'Agent Anglo' was now on the phone with someone else, not the Councilmen known as 'Four'. This man, unlike Four, was nervous when speaking to him.

"Are you sure you want this done, sir?" the man asked over the phone, "Think of what it could and probably would do to any civilian that it comes across?"

"I know that full well," Agent Anglo growled back, "But remember, that if Pendragon saves Britain during its 'greatest hour of need', the master's prophecies will be thrown out of whack, and if one is made false, then we don't know how many more will naturally be false because the first one was."

"I understand that perfectly, sir," the man nervously answered, "But couldn't we find some way to deal with Pendragon that isn't so dangerous to the rest of the public?"

"Not with gargoyles and Macbeth helping him," Agent Anglo answered, "They would likely make most other methods impossible. You are to release the beast, is that understood?"

"Yes," the man replied nervously.

"For the Illuminati," Agent Anglo answered.

"For the Illuminati," the man repeated.

**To be Continued…**


	4. Howling

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place on the first full moon after "Boredom".

Howling

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**York**

"Did you hear that?" Rachel Winters asked, sticking her head out of the living room window to her apartment.

"Hear what?" her sister Gwen asked back coming from another room, "I didn't hear anything."

"It was a howl, some strange monstrous howl," Rachel answered, "It didn't sound human."

"It was probably someone's pet howling at the moon," Gwen shrugged.

"It didn't sound like a dog or wolf either," Rachel said back.

"There are no wolves in Britain," Gwen pointed out, "The only wild dog that does live in large sections of Europe is the Red Fox. And foxes don't howl."

"I know what I heard," Rachel insisted, "And no one's dog could have howled like that."

Gwen only rolled her eyes, "You're nervous over nothing..."

The howl that Rachel heard earlier was then heard again. Gwen's face paled of all color after hearing it.

"Okay, I heard it that time," Gwen said quickly, "And yes, a dog couldn't have made that sound."

"Look, that howling thing made the paper," Gwen commented the next morning as she held up the newspaper.

Rachel took it almost immediately and looked at the headline. It read 'strange creature in city'. She read more, discovering that whatever this creature was, it had brutally killed sever pets in city's suburbs.

"I can't believe it," Rachel gasped.

"At least it wasn't in our part of the city," Gwen shrugged, "And animal control is on looking into it, so everything should be fine."

The two sisters read the paper for a couple of hours while eating breakfast. When they'd finished at put everything away, the used newspaper sat in a recycle bin with one of the interior pages showing. Strangely, an ad for a London private investigator was in the upper right hand corner of the page. A 'Dragon Investigation Services' ad. The two women ignored it at the time.

The day went by quietly for both Rachel and Gwen. Both went to their respective jobs and did their work. The strange howling turned out to be the main focus of conversation among everyone that they met. No one knew what it was, but there was confident conversation that the police would capture the animal. Both Rachel and Gwen were tired when they finished work and headed home.

Rachel arrived home to hear Gwen talking to someone named 'Jerry' on the telephone. She decided to ignore it and went to put her things away before doing a little reading. Meanwhile, the sun set outside bringing night to the city of York once more. Shortly afterward, a large, bright full moon rose into the skies.

Rachel had just begun some reading from a magazine she had picked up on the way home when she heard the terrible howling sound again. It startled her and she dropped her magazine in surprise.

"Hopefully the police catch that thing," Rachel commented quietly to herself as she retrieved her magazine.

The howling went on for the entire night, keeping Rachel up. She was somewhat frightened by the sounds. Somehow she was certain that Gwen was sound asleep.

The report in the newspaper the next morning only added to Rachel's nervousness. Police and animal control had supposedly cornered the creature in alley, but it had somehow escaped before they had a chance to tranquilize it. The report indicated that appeared to be canine in nature and highly intelligent. Rachel was shocked when she saw one of the quotes taken from the police that indicated that whatever this thing was, it was able to move and think like a human.

"You're getting too caught up in all this," Gwen warned, "The police will catch it."

"It escaped from an alley after they trapped it!" Rachel said nervously, "And an officer thinks it's a humanoid. Not human, but human like."

"I thought you said they thought it was canine?" Gwen questioned.

"Maybe it's both," Rachel suggested.

"You're paranoid," Gwen answered, "The police will catch it."

They continued about their daily routine again in silence.

"Of all the times to run out of milk," Rachel said in a frustrated voice that evening as she looked through her refrigerator.

The day had been full of more discussion about the mysterious creature, and like the day before, most of the people that Rachel had spoken with weren't entirely sure what was going on. Only a few people had 'normal' conversations were heard, most of them dealing with the scattered rain showers that had been going on through the day. She sighed as she shut the refrigerator door and headed for the exit, grabbing a raincoat on her way.

"I'm going down to the shop to get a few things," Rachel said loudly as she left, "I'll be back shortly."

"Wait!" Gwen called, rushing from the living room, leaving the television on, "I'll come with you."

Twenty minutes later, the two were walking back up the street, each carrying a bag of groceries in their hands. They were walking under scattered cloud cover, which for the moment obscured the still full moon.

"It's been a quiet night so far," Gwen commented as she made sure her umbrella was easily accessible inside the grocery bag she had placed it in, just in case one of the scattered clouds decided to drop its water on them.

"Hopefully the police caught that monster sometime during the day," Rachel nodded, "If we're lucky they'll have pictures on news when we get back home."

Gwen quickly nodded in agreement. The prospect that the creature had been caught, however, was soon ruled out as loud and eerie howl echoed over their heads.

"Oh, no," Rachel gasped, "That... that... that sounded close."

"It's probably in one of the alleys on the other side of these apartments," Gwen agreed, "We should be fine though. Only one more block, and then we'll be safely indoors."

They both kept walking briskly, trying to get back to their apartment as quickly as they could. Things began to become more frightening for Rachel as the sound of car horns began to join the howls of whatever was running around the area.

"What's going on now?" Gwen wondered a loud as they crossed a street as the car horns seemed to get louder.

Suddenly Gwen saw the creature come around the corner of buildings across from them. It was a massive grey colored wolf-like creature and it charged straight for the two of them, dodging and leaping over cars as it went.

"Come on," Gwen yelled at Rachel, "we need to get out of here."

She took a few steps only to pause and see that Rachel hadn't moved. She stood, paralyzed with fear, as the wolf creature just ran toward her.

"Rachel, come on!" Gwen cried out.

Rachel barely managed a step before the creature ran right into her, knocking her over. It surprisingly fell over, as if it did not expect Rachel to simply stand still as she did. The beast fell on top of Rachel, who now began to kick and punch at the beast trying to get it off of her. The creature seemed to want to comply, but in a somewhat clumsy attempt to get back up, one of its furry paw-like hands clawed Rachel's arm. Rachel screamed and kicked it again. This blow seemed to anger the monstrous creature and it growled at Rachel.

As Rachel began to crawl away, the creature lunged forward and seized her by the shoulder in its jaws. Rachel screamed with pain and began to pound on the creature's shoulders with her hands as the creature grabbed her waist and attempted to tear out a chunk of her shoulder.

Gwen watched all of this in horror and as the creature began its attempt to kill Rachel, she grabbed her umbrella and moved to try and save her sister. Using her umbrella as a club, she hit the creature on the head a few times, which succeeded in making it drop Rachel out of its jaws and grasp. Gwen watched as her sister fell to the ground unconscious.

"Now, you leave me alone!" Gwen screamed at the creature.

She hit the beast again with her umbrella. It prepared to advance again when the sound of sirens began to approach their position. The creature then growled at Gwen and then ran off down the street that was perpendicular to the street that Gwen and Rachel had been walking on.

Dropping her umbrella, Gwen then ran to Rachel's side and waited for an ambulance.

Gwen sat quietly beside the small emergency room bed in the hospital that Rachel had been rushed to. Thankfully, the creature hadn't done too serious physical damage to Rachel's body, and doctors had suspected the worst thing she had suffered was shock. Gwen still wished she could have done something. The police to arrive on the scene had told her she had done more than enough, but that didn't make Gwen feel any better.

Looking around the empty hospital room for something to keep her occupied, she found a newspaper lying on another chair in the room. Gwen quickly picked it up and looked at it. It was a copy of the paper from the day before, but on the page that Gwen had picked up was an advertisement for a private investigator in London. Large parts of the ad caught her attention. The ad read... 'Dragon Investigation Services...We will work to solve all mysteries... from the common and normal... to the strange and bewildering'.

"Maybe this man could help find and stop this creature," Gwen commented to herself.

**London**

Arthur sat quietly in an easy chair watching the ten o'clock news on the television. Merlin sat beside him, although the wizard was still absorbed in his studies to learn more about the Holy Grail. Most of the clan had left on patrol, and Macbeth was busy elsewhere with work related to the school he was teaching at. It had continued to remain quiet in London, as most of Arthur's work continued to focus on exposing those committing adultery and so forth, and the biggest crook the clan had brought in had been a cat-burglar that had been active in central London.

The news anchor was busy reporting on problems going on half way around the world.

"Tensions meanwhile continue to rise in the Chinese province of Tibet as the first of three Chinese motorized infantry divisions entered the province to join the Chinese garrisons already in the province," the reporter read off of a sheet of paper, "Official statements from Beijing indicate a militarist presence in the province that 'threatens internal security'. Strangely enough it is local Communist Party offices that are raising the tension in the region. One officer in Tibet's capital reported briefly to the BBC that 'there are no militarists in Tibet'."

The reporter then looked up from what he was reading and looked up and said, "We will bring more information about this issue as it develops."

A female reporter sitting next to the first man then began to speak.

"In more local news, the mysterious creature of York has claimed its first human victim," the reporter announced.

Arthur sat more alertly in his seat. Problems in China didn't seem to entirely catch his attention, but an attack on someone by some creature in Britain was by far more important to him.

"A woman identified as Rachel Winters was mauled by the creature near her apartment by the creature," the reporter continued, "But has thankfully survived and has received treatment at the local hospital. Police are urging the people to remain calm and are doing everything they can to capture the animal."

The screen switched to show an interview with one of the policemen who had arrived on the scene of the attack and he was describing what he saw when he arrived on the scene.

"We should do something," Arthur commented.

"What would you do?" Merlin asked, as if he were testing Arthur, "The police have already reported that they are hunting this animal."

"I feel that I must do something," Arthur insisted, "It attacked and nearly killed someone."

"I know you feel for the young Winters woman, Arthur," Merlin said, "But this is not the fifth century. The police are quite capable of capturing some wild animal lose in a city, and if they can't capture it, they can kill it much easier."

"But you've told me that most, if not all of the animals that could maul a human being were eradicated from Britain," Arthur pointed out, "Something about this just doesn't sit right with me."

"You suspect something more than a simple animal?" Merlin asked.

"I do not know," Arthur answered, "But something is telling me that something else is going on."

"A good hunch," Merlin nodded, "And I agree with you. The animal has, apparently only been seen or noticed at night. All of Britain's major predators have been eradicated and a zoo animal does not possess the fear of humans to avoid contact with them during the day."

Merlin then sighed heavily, "But we must act carefully. The clan's protectorate. We can't expect to have them tramp half way across Britain to deal with something that could turn out to be only an escaped zoo animal easily. And unless someone hires you to investigate this creature, we can not 'officially' do so, until the police close their investigation."

"We'll continue unofficially if we have to," Arthur answered, "I don't want that creature harming another person. And I want to know where it came from."

Merlin nodded, "I'll do what I can to follow the events in York. You will certainly require more information."

Arthur nodded, "Thank you, old friend. I'm going to go out for a bit of a walk right now. Clear my head and think about a few things."

Merlin nodded and watched Arthur walk out and thought quietly to himself, "Glad to see that you still see all of Britain as your protectorate, Arthur. I have fears that her greatest hour of need may come from somewhere else in the kingdom, not only London. This could even be it."

**Elsewhere, the next day**

Jeremy Irons once again stood before Agent Anglo to give his report to his direct boss. He was somewhat nervous about the meeting. Mostly because he knew how powerful Agent Anglo really was and because he had not much to give in previous reports other than that they were still researching 'Britain's greatest hour of need' and Arthur and Macbeth's work outside of the mansion they had taken residence in.

"What do you have for me Jeremy?" Agent Anglo asked calmly.

"Arthur knows of the beast's activities in York," Jeremy answered, "At least I assume he does."

"What do you mean 'you assume'?" Agent Anglo questioned more threateningly, "It was on the bloody television. He had to have seen it. I want to know what his reaction to it was."

"He looked frustrated to me," Jeremy answered again, "I was able to get closer to him when he went through a park near his base of operations and I overheard him mumbling about something. Sounded like he was headed toward York sometime in the future."

"So, he will be going to York?" Agent Anglo mused, "This is progress. And it has shown us one important thing. Arthur and Merlin are reliant on the basic news programs to get their information and any clues about 'Britain's greatest hour of need'. This will help us in the future."

"What if the beast kills him while he's in York?" Jeremy asked.

"The beast is not to be released again until the next full moon," Agent Anglo said back, "Four wants the people to largely remain ignorant of the details of the situation. Therefore, the beast will only be used as specific times and places."

Jeremy nodded.

"Continue you're surveillance," Agent Anglo ordered, "We'll need every piece of information you can get, including when he intends to head for York."

"Easily done, sir," Jeremy nodded.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

"So let me get this straight," Macbeth commented as he sat across from Arthur at the small dining table in the mansion's kitchen, "You two intend to go up to York, snoop around in search of some wolf-like creature, while the police in the area are still hunting for it?"

Arthur nodded. It had been a few days since he had seen the BBC report on what was going on in York. So far, the city had apparently been quiet.

"Something about the situation up there isn't right," Arthur answered, "Ever since that woman was attacked, reporters have been there covering the story. But no one has found any sign of the creature since the attack."

"The creature may have left the city area," Macbeth sighed, "Unless you have a dog... a trained hound-dog, finding that thing may be harder then you think."

"Maybe so," Arthur sighed, "But it is something I must do. I fear the cause of this situation is bigger then what the police can handle on their own. I must go to investigate. If not to stop the creature, then to at least see that the police have done their job."

"The police will not like someone monitoring their work that isn't a part of their unit and their direct superior," Macbeth warned, "And they could arrest you for that alone. 'Interfering with an official investigation' would be the charge I believe, and that is if they do not suspect you of being involved with the creature's attacks."

Arthur sat silently.

"I can understand where you're coming from," Macbeth sighed, "You don't want anyone else hurt. It is good that you feel that way, and policemen in York are likely to agree with you, but at the same time they have to keep order in the city. Even if half of London showed up at York tomorrow to 'volunteer' to hunt this creature, they would be told to go home, to minimize the chance that something could go wrong."

"Merlin will be going with me," Arthur gestured to his right, "We won't do anything that would make something go wrong."

Macbeth looked over at Merlin. The medieval wizard sat calmly, listening to the two kings debate.

"And what do you think?" Macbeth asked Merlin.

"As much as I agree with you that on some level, this should be left the local police force, which is probably more than capable of dealing with the creature then we are," Merlin answered, "Arthur is also right in the fact that there is something more than just a 'lose' animal in York. Something that warrants an unofficial investigation. The police will probably capture or kill this animal that is on the loose, but I would prefer that we discover 'why' this creature was on the loose."

"What if you run into this beast while you're there?" Macbeth questioned, "You can't go around York brandishing Excalibur, even if strapped to your back. The police won't let you run around the city with a sword."

"I was hoping to take Griff with us," Arthur answered, "He could provide the necessary muscle power, and protect Excalibur if I were to encounter a situation where I couldn't use it."

"I guess I will be looking after things here, then?" Macbeth asked, knowing that Arthur and Merlin were going to continue with their plans.

"That would help, greatly," Merlin answered, "Although the way things have been going around London, you probably won't have to do much."

Macbeth sighed when he heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it," Macbeth sighed and got up.

Macbeth found a young woman standing at the front door clutching what looked like a piece of a newspaper. She didn't look very comfortable when he answered the door.

"Are you Mr. Dragon?" the woman asked holding up the ad for Macbeth to see.

"No, I am Lennox MacDuff," Macbeth answered, using his current alias.

"Oh dear," the woman said weakly, "I must be at the wrong address. I'm..."

"You're at the right address, madam, come inside," Macbeth interrupted, "I work with Mr. Dragon from time to time."

The woman seemed to sigh with relief. Macbeth quietly led her back to where Arthur and Merlin were seated.

"Arthur, I believe you have a client," Macbeth announced as he entered.

Arthur and Merlin looked up to see the young woman following Macbeth.

"Hello, I'm Arthur Dragon," Arthur stood up to shake her hand, "You've met Mr. MacDuff, and this is my other associate Merlin Hawkins."

"Merlin?" the woman asked curiously.

"My parents were very interested by the Arthurian Legend," Merlin answered, "The wizard was apparently their favorite character."

The woman nodded and took the chair that Macbeth had been sitting in earlier. Macbeth meanwhile politely and quietly excused himself to deal with other matters.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Miss...?" Arthur began.

"Winters," the woman answered, "Gwendolyn Winters and there is something you can do for me."

"What can we do?" Arthur asked.

"Your ads say that you'll look into almost anything, even if it seems strange, is that true?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, within reason," Arthur answered, "I've had to turn down a few clients asking about 'missing socks in the laundry'. I think they were pranksters though."

"I assure you, I'm not playing any pranks," Gwen said firmly and then sighed, "Do you know about what's happened in York recently?"

Arthur glanced at Merlin for a moment before answering.

"Yes," Arthur answered, "Some beast mauled a woman there. The report on the television said her name was..."

"Rachel Winters," Gwen interrupted, "I know that. Rachel is my sister. That is why I'm here."

"What is it that you want us to investigate, Ms. Winters?" Merlin asked, "As far as I know, the police are still working with local animal control to find the creature. I doubt there would be anything that Arthur or I could do to help."

"The police ended their official involvement yesterday," Gwen answered, "They searched for two days after my sister was attacked and then gave up, leaving the job to animal control. They said it was a wastage of time and resources to continue looking."

"You want me to find this creature?" Arthur asked.

"And kill it," Gwen added.

Arthur nodded, "I'm sorry if this sounds unnecessary, but could you tell me some more about all this. The television news reporters didn't say much, and any information about what you have me hunting would be helpful."

"It all started a few days ago," Gwen answered, "Rachel and I had just finished dinner. She had gone out into the living room to do some reading and I went to get something from my bedroom when she heard some sort of howl in the distance. I initially thought it was nothing, but in the morning, it turned out that something had viciously killed several pets in the city's suburbs. The next night, we heard the howling again, and the morning after we read that the police and animal control did trap it in alley. But, the creature also escaped them. Then on the third night..."

Gwen paused to look at Arthur and Merlin. Both sat quietly listening to her story.

"Rachel was cooking something for dinner and needed milk for it, or wanted a glass of milk to drink, I can't remember which, and found out that we were out," Gwen continued, "I decided to go down to the market with her to keep Rachel company. It attacked us on the way back. It ran into Rachel and knocked her over. It clawed and bit her, and probably would have killed her if I hadn't hit it with my umbrella."

"You saw the creature?" Merlin asked.

"Yes," Gwen nodded, "It was a big wolf-like thing. It was covered in fur and had a tail and claws and teeth. It had really big teeth."

"A wolf?" Arthur asked.

"Wolf-like," Gwen answered.

"Can you give us directions to your house?" Merlin asked, "Arthur is finishing up a few other cases and can not leave until later this evening."

"I can do better," Gwen answered, "I can drive you both when you're ready. I had a business meeting here in London earlier this afternoon, so I'm done for the day. We will need to get back to York shortly though."

Merlin glanced at Arthur for a moment.

"I'm not leaving until you're ready," Gwen then said very firmly.

Merlin sighed, realizing that some of their plans would have to be revealed.

"Arthur, I think you'd better tell her some of our plans," Merlin sighed, knowing that what they had to do would probably frighten the woman to a certain extent.

"What?" Gwen shrieked, "Your plans? You're not covering up this monster, are you?"

Arthur sighed, "No. But we were intending to begin our own search for this creature before you arrived..."

"That's good then," Gwen interrupted, "The sooner that thing is gone, the better."

"Yes, but we have some other associates that are not ready to leave yet," Arthur answered.

"You mean... you, Merlin, and MacDuff aren't the only ones who will be helping?" Gwen asked.

"MacDuff will not be working with us," Arthur answered, "He is far more busy dealing with matters in London itself. Have you seen the reports from New York on the gargoyle population?"

"Gargoyles?" Gwen asked, "You're asking me if I know about gargoyles?"

"Yes," Arthur answered.

Gwen then nodded, "I know about them yes. Two of them supposedly helped the British during the Battle of Britain. There's a monument to them here in London, but they were supposedly killed by the Nazis. I've seen the monument. And I did see the BBC report on the ones in New York. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, believe it or not..." Arthur began somewhat reluctantly.

"I'll believe you, no matter what you say," Gwen encouraged, "I saw some giant wolf attack my sister for Christ's sake."

"Well, a group of gargoyles, a clan, if you wish, has worked with me from time to time," Arthur said slowly, "I think that this creature is far too dangerous to be tackled by anything short of a gargoyle if it is to be taken alive."

"I want it dead," Gwen insisted, "It attacked my sister, and surely you can shoot it."

"Yes," Merlin commented, "But, the police and animal control will surely want it captured alive."

"This thing is also has to be beyond any normal animal if the first ones to see it were your sister and yourself," Arthur added, "Even if it has to be killed, it may not be done that easily."

"So you want a gargoyle to help?" Gwen asked skeptically, "I didn't see any on the roof, disguised as pieces of architecture. How am I to believe you?"

Merlin glanced at Arthur again.

"We can show them to you, when they wake up," Merlin offered, "That is why we can not leave right now. Gargoyles are completely nocturnal creatures."

"You can wake up nocturnal creatures during the day," Gwen interrupted.

"Not gargoyles," Merlin answered, "They are stone during the day. That is why many disguise themselves as pieces of architecture."

"I want to see," Gwen sighed.

"Agreed," Arthur sighed, "If you're willing to believe that, then there are some other things we must tell you..."

By dusk, Gwen stood quietly behind Arthur and Merlin as they waited for Griff and the other gargoyles to wake up. Gwen didn't entirely believe the story that the two men had told her, but they seemed to believe the story that she had told them and accept her thoughts. This was more then what she thought the police and animal control.

"If they don't wake up, you're insane," Gwen warned, "and I was stupid for thinking you could help."

Arthur nodded, at almost the same time that each and every gargoyle began to break free of its stone shell for the night. Gwen yelped with fear as each broke free and roared as it did so. The gargoyles didn't look entirely comfortable with a stranger standing just inside their sleeping quarters.

"They are real," Gwen commented.

"Just as we are," Merlin answered her.

"What-o, you're Majesty?" Griff asked the griffon-like gargoyle approached Arthur.

"Remember the story I told you about the creature in York?" Arthur asked the group.

"Yes," Griff nodded, "Terrible stuff, that. She's not the creature, is she?"

"I most certainly am not!" Gwen growled, angered that the gargoyle would accuse her.

"This is Gwendolyn Winters," Arthur explained, "She is the sister of the woman that the creature attacked."

"Oh dear," Una gasped, "She is alright, right?"

"Yes," Gwen answered.

Arthur continued his explanation, "She has 'hired' me to find and at least capture the brute. Gwen, this is Griff, Una, Leo, Octavia, Julia, Chloe, Lancelot, Guinevere, and Gawain."

"Hello," the gargoyles managed to answer in unison.

"I can't believe it," Gwen answered, "Will you help me?"

"Una and I are responsible for a shop down in Soho that we're still working to get up and running again," Leo answered, "But I'm sure the rest can help."

"I'll help Arthur," Griff volunteered, nodding, "One should be enough. No beast can best me."

"What if you require, aide?" Octavia asked, "You and Arthur can not tackle this thing alone."

"Merlin will be coming with me as well," Arthur answered, "Besides, I will need Griff in case we come across the creature at night."

"And I need the rest of you to protect London," Griff answered, and placed a talon under Octavia's beak, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be back in no time."

Griff then turned to Arthur.

"How are you expecting to get me to York, your Majesty?" Griff asked curiously, "I'd look rather conspicuous coming out of a car."

"Leave that to me," Merlin winked and quickly said a few words in Latin.

Once the green glow faded, everyone was startled to see a human looking Griff, wearing what looked like a RAF uniform. Griff however could still feel his wings.

"There," Merlin clapped his hands, "You'll look human until dawn. When you turn to stone for the day, the spell will wear off."

"Problem solved, I guess," Griff answered.

**York, Later that Night**

"Gwen!" Rachel exclaimed as her sister came through the door with three strange men, "What are you doing?"

"I've gotten some help," Gwen answered as she shut the door, "This is Arthur Pendragon, Merlin Hawkins, and Griff. They're going to catch the monster that attacked you."

"That monster hasn't been seen since the attack," Rachel answered, "I'd hoped we'd heard the last of it."

"We're here to see to it that you have heard the last of it," Merlin answered.

Arthur nodded and looked at the woman. She wore a light short sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of relatively business-like trousers. He could see no signs that she'd been attacked by anything.

"Wait," Rachel said weakly as she caught the names that Gwen had given her, "Pendragon, Merlin? You two aren't some King Arthur imitators are you?"

"No, madam," Arthur answered, "We are not imitators."

"We'd best find a hotel or something to stay at until we can deal with whatever this creature is," Griff suggested.

"Yes, we can not impose on you two," Arthur agreed, "We'll let you know when we've caught the creature."

"No, stay here," Gwen insisted, "Rachel's gotten some time off from work to recover from the attack, but I still have work. If someone could keep her company for me, that'd be fine."

"I don't need company," Rachel answered back, "I need to get back to work."

"The doctors told you that you need to stay in bed for a week," Gwen answered, "You shouldn't be walking around."

"You're worrying too much, I'm fine," Rachel protested.

"Good," Gwen answered, "You'll stay fine with these people."

"We don't mean to intrude on you," Griff cut in, "We'll just go down to a nearby hotel. If she needs someone to stay with her during the day, I'm sure some can come by and visit."

"No," Gwen insisted, "I hired you, and you're staying here. I want to make sure that you're doing your job. Besides, Rachel is just being stubborn. She's always been that way."

That point ended the argument. Rachel sighed and walked off into the living room, while Gwen prepared to give a rather quick tour. Griff quickly tapped Arthur on the shoulder.

"I'd best get outside and to a spot where I can roost before the sun rises," Griff whispered, "I'll also make a quick patrol around the city. See if I can't find this beast."

"Make sure you're not seen," Arthur whispered back.

The next few days went by fairly slowly. Arthur and Merlin spent much of the time walking around York and trying to get as much information as they could about the creature. They were mostly trying to see if others had seen it. Surprisingly, very few had seen it, and those who had seen the creature, couldn't give any definite answer as to where it was now. Griff spent the nights patrolling the city, to see if the creature had surfaced again during the night. He didn't have much more success.

"I don't like this," Arthur commented as kneeled down to get a closer look at a piece of ground where he though he saw some tracks, "No one's seen anything. And I can't find any tracks that could be identified as the creature we're after."

"I'm beginning to think that the creature we're hunting is not exactly a 'normal' creature," Merlin commented from beside him, "So we not only have to investigate to see who released this creature, but deal with something that possesses supernatural powers."

"What makes you think that?" Arthur asked.

"Rachel Winter's nightmares," Merlin answered, "She's been having nightmares the past several nights. I can hear her screaming from the living room."

"I haven't heard anything," Arthur commented.

"That's because you still sleep quite soundly," Merlin answered, "Believe me. I think there had to have been something supernatural about this creature that is giving her nightmares."

"Do you know what it is, then?" Arthur asked.

"Not exactly," Merlin sighed, "Rachel's wounds had already healed by the time we arrived, so I could examine them for any clue as to what attacked her. Gwen told us it was wolf-like, and while that narrows it down to a few normal supernatural creatures, but with men like Sevarius on the lose around the world, one can never be sure. For all we know this could be a gargoyle beast that looks like a wolf that we're after."

"If there are lots of things that it could be, then we have no chance of being sure that whatever we find is right," Arthur sighed, "We need to find some definite proof of what it is."

"We probably won't get that until we see the creature," Merlin sighed back.

Arthur continued looking down at the ground where he thought he saw tracks. Finally he motioned Merlin to take a closer look.

"We're in the area where it supposedly began its attack on the various pets in the area," Arthur commented, and then pointing to large wolf-like paw prints that were still in the dirt, "And these look far too big to be caused by someone's pet."

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "This confirms what Gwen told us."

"Let's follow them," Arthur suggested, "Perhaps it will lead us to its lair."

**London**

Agent Anglo sat quietly in his chair as Jeremy Irons made his way into his office. The Illuminati spy had been making frequent trips between London and York to keep Agent Anglo up to date on Pendragon's activities. So far, he knew that Pendragon knew as much as the York police and animal control did.

"What do you have?" Agent Anglo asked.

"This is more of a messenger mission for the York base," Jeremy answered, "Arthur has not made any progress against finding the beast."

"What do they want?" Agent Anglo asked.

"They want to know if you want to use the beast against Pendragon," Jeremy asked.

"Tell them the answer is yes," Agent Anglo answered, "The use of the beast was entirely to destroy Pendragon. Attacking Pendragon through means of sorcery has failed and with a clan of gargoyles to help him, the number of regular soldiers that we would require would be extraordinary. Perhaps the beast's abilities will triumph."

"I'll let them know right away, sir," Jeremy answered and walked out of the office just as quickly as he had entered.

**York, Night of the Full Moon**

Arthur carefully kept Excalibur kept in its scabbard and hidden under his coat. He wouldn't be able produce his weapon quickly if he needed it, but in the modern era, walking around with an enchanted broadsword would get him into trouble. The risk he was taking was a risk he had to take. He made sure Griff had gotten something to eat before he and Merlin prepared to leave.

"Do you think you'll find it, tonight?" Gwen asked him as he began to walk out.

"I don't know," Arthur answered honestly, "But according to your story it started during a full moon, maybe it will come back now."

"It's been quiet so far," Gwen commented, "Maybe it is gone."

"I doubt it," Merlin commented with a sigh.

Gwen then watched nervously as the two men began walking down the street. She also nervously looked up to see their gargoyle companion, Griff take to the air to glide above them. Sighing she went back inside her apartment building. When she made her way back to her apartment she found Rachel in the kitchen. She was serving herself another plate of ham that group had eaten earlier.

"Shouldn't you be full by now?" Gwen asked her sister.

"I don't know why I'm still hungry, but I know I'm hungry," Rachel answered, "Besides, you always complain on left-over nights."

"That's because you have left-over nights when I bring a date home," Gwen replied.

Arthur and Merlin calmly walked through an empty section of a large park area. Trees covered much of the area and there were lampposts and benches placed at regular intervals near a foot path.

"See anything?" Arthur asked.

"No," Merlin sighed, "And this is direction in which the creature had ran after it attacked Rachel. We should find something."

"Perhaps Griff has seen something," Arthur wondered, "Perhaps I should wave him down."

Merlin watched Arthur move out into a relatively open area where he could motion to Griff to land when he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a rather dirty looking man, wearing only a pair oversized sweat pants. Strangely the man was also wearing a dog collar. Merlin was able to recognize the symbol of the Illuminati on the dog collar's buckle.

"May I help you two with anything?" the man asked.

"No, my friend and I were out for a walk," Merlin answered, "That's all."

"It's been dangerous to go out at night around here lately," the man commented.

"Yes, we're here to investigate all that," Arthur commented, "We haven't found anything that might help."

"You wouldn't happen to have any information?" Merlin asked, suspiciously, "Would you?"

The man let out an almost evil laugh.

"Any information?" the man laughed, "I've got everything!"

Without warning the man threw a powerful punch into Merlin, which sent the wizard flying into Arthur. The two men landed in heap a few feet into the clearing. They looked up to see that man seemed to be changing before them. Already, his teeth seemed to have grown longer and more pointed, while his already dirty hair began to change from brown to grey and grow even wilder then before.

"No human could land a punch that strong," Arthur commented as he tried to ready Excalibur for a fight.

"No normal human," Merlin corrected as he looked on at the man before them, "Look!"

Arthur looked to see that the man had already grown at least a foot taller and was growing a thick pelt of grey fur. He then glanced at the full moon shining down on them.

"He's a werewolf!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Brilliant deduction, Holmes," the werewolf laughed, "Simply brilliant."

"Griff, get down here!" Arthur yelled.

"You won't win," Merlin warned as threw a lightening spell at the monster.

The spell threw the werewolf back at least twenty feet. He slowly finished his transformation and got to his feet.

"You attacked the Winters woman!" Arthur accused and pointed Excalibur at the werewolf.

The werewolf watched as an olive green griffon-like gargoyle, wearing a sleeveless 1940's flight jacket land next to Arthur.

"Blimey!" Griff commented, "I guess you found it."

"Yes," the werewolf growled evilly, ignoring Griff's comment, "I am the werewolf that attacked the Winters woman. Speaking of which, the moon is rising, and you should all know the basics of the werewolf legend."

Griff then began quoting a line from a movie that he'd seen since he arrived in the late 1990's, "Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives, becomes a werewolf himself."

The werewolf laughed at them.

"Deal with him," Merlin yelled, "I'll get back to the apartment."

Merlin then vanished in a flash of emerald light, leaving Arthur and Griff to face the werewolf, who was moving forward and growling threateningly.

Gwen and Rachel were simply passing time as they waited for Arthur and Merlin to return. Although neither had to go in to work the next day, and so, neither was fully in the mood for going to bed early. The only problem was that every five minutes, Rachel would get up to check the thermostat.

"I'm telling you Rachel, I didn't turn the heat on," Gwen insisted.

"Then why is it getting so hot in here?" Rachel demanded.

"I don't feel hot," Gwen answered, "Are you okay?"

"How many times do I have to tell you," Rachel began as the sound of a clock striking midnight interrupted her answer, "I'm... AAARRRRRRGGGHHH!"

Gwen watched in shock as her sister stopped and gripped herself, as if in pain.

"Rachel!" Gwen exclaimed.

Rachel only screamed as she felt unimaginable pain shoot through her body. What made matters worse as that through her screams she heard the creature howling somewhere in the city again.

"Oh great," Gwen mumbled, "Not that thing again."

"What's happening to me?!" Rachel shrieked behind her.

Gwen turned around to see that Rachel had already collapsed to the floor. She was crying in between her pained screams. To Gwen's horror, she noticed that several of Rachel's teeth had grown larger and her canines were becoming much more pointed than before.

"Rachel?" Gwen gasped stepping back.

The pain Rachel felt was unimaginable. Everything she was wearing was beginning to feel tight as the felt muscles expand and contract. He then heard a cracking sound coming from her ankles as she felt her feet begin to lengthen. In between her screams, she looked at her hands. Her fingernails were growing longer and sharper, beginning to resemble claws. To her own confusion and horror, she also saw several chocolate brown colored hairs growing out of the back of her hand, and quickly thinking into fur. Rachel also felt an extremely itchy sensation as more fur began to grow, even in places were she couldn't see at the moment.

"What's happening to me?!" Rachel screamed again.

She began crying again when she felt the fabric in the toe of her socks rip away as her lengthening feet and clawed toes tore through them.

Merlin appeared inside the living room to find practical chaos. Rachel was already beginning her first transformation as her growing size now made the clothes she was wearing far too tight. Most of her body was covered in chocolate brown colored fur. Gwen wasn't doing much better, seemingly. She looked so frightened by what was happening to her sister that she didn't notice the wizard's arrival immediately.

"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed when she saw that the wizard had arrived, "You must do something. Save my sister."

Merlin looked over at Gwen and almost immediately felt very guilty.

"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do," Merlin sighed, "Your sister was attacked a werewolf a month ago and is now going through her first transformation."

"Werewolf?" Rachel gasped between screams, as the buttons on the front of her shirt came undone, sending the buttons flying to the floor below her.

Shortly after that, Rachel's pants began to rip apart as her leg muscles continued to grow stronger and more powerful. Rachel also felt pressure building up behind her nose and mouth, and at the base of her spine. She could also feel her ears changing shape, and moving.

"Can't you do something?" Gwen pleaded.

"The magics behind the werewolf 'curse' are far stronger than I am capable of counteracting," Merlin sighed, "The best I can do is make sure that you sister doesn't freak out."

Gwen looked over to Rachel. She was still screaming with pain and was crouching on the floor. Her body growing larger as her muscles continued to develop. Her eyes squeezed shut.

"No," Rachel cried, "NO!"

Her eyes then opened, revealing to Gwen and Merlin that they had become a feral yellow color. Rachel then felt the material of her clothes break and begin to fall off of her as she grew too large for them to fit her. She then heard the a heavy cracking sound as her face began to jut forwards, growing into a wolf-like muzzle, her teeth and fangs growing larger to fit inside her mouth properly.

"NO!" Rachel cried

Next, Rachel felt the pressure become far greater on tail bone, and after another series of audible cracking sounds, a furry tail began to grow out of the base of her spine. Merlin and Gwen watched as Rachel shakily brought herself up onto her feet, ending up standing like a gargoyle, on the balls of her feet and raised her head towards the sky.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rachel howled, sounding just like the first werewolf had sounded the month before.

Rachel then collapsed to the ground sobbing.

"Stay away from me!" Rachel cried out.

"I... I... can't believe this," Gwen managed to say.

"Arthur and I only found out that it was a werewolf that attacked your sister a few minutes ago," Merlin tried to explain to Gwen, "I came back to try and warn you."

"She's not going to attack me, is she?" Gwen asked nervously.

"I don't wanna be a monster!" Rachel screamed, leaped up, and bolted out of the room, knocking both Gwen and Merlin over as she ran past.

"No, but she might have that reaction," Merlin sighed as he tried to pull himself up, and saw that Rachel had not clawed either of them on her way past, "We need to calm her down."

"Where's Arthur?" Gwen asked as she began to run after Merlin.

"He and Griff are dealing with the werewolf that attacked your sister," Merlin answered.

The werewolf lunged forward at Arthur as soon as Merlin vanished. The once and future king quickly dodged to the left and slashed at the werewolf's side with Excalibur. The beast screamed with pain as the blade cut a long gash in its side from its shoulder down to its hip.

Griff then tackled the werewolf from the side and drove it face first into the grass of the park ground. Placing a knee on the creature's back and a hand on a shoulder and on the creature's head, the griffon-like gargoyle held the werewolf down. Arthur then came forward and placed the point of Excalibur right next to the creature's collar.

"Your collar carries the mark of the Illuminati, so you can't just be a rogue out causing trouble," Arthur commented, "Why are you here? Why are you doing what you're doing?"

Unable to wrestle out of Griff's grasp and fearful of Excalibur's point, the werewolf decided to cooperate.

"The Illuminati have ordered me here to take care of you," the werewolf answered.

"Fine job you did," Griff commented, "You aren't going anywhere."

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"You will eventually stand in the way of one of the Mage's prophecies," the werewolf muttered, "That's all I know."

"So you attacked an innocent woman to get to me?" Arthur demanded.

"It was not thought that you would come here with Merlin and a gargoyle," the werewolf answered, "They wanted me to get you alone."

Arthur sighed heavily.

"What do we do with him, your majesty?" Griff asked.

"Knock him out, for now," Arthur sighed, "Merlin can deal with his incarceration later."

Griff nodded and then clubbed the werewolf with both fists. The blow knocked the creature unconscious.

"I'll trust you to carry him, Griff," Arthur commented, "Since as a gargoyle, you are immune to his saliva and claws."

"Right, your majesty," Griff answered, "We'll be tacking him back to the Winters's home then?"

"No, I'll head back to the Winters apartment to contact Merlin," Arthur commented, "You take him to the outskirts of town. Merlin and I will meet you there."

Griff nodded and moved to climb a tree, Arthur meanwhile began to walk back toward the Winters apartment. Hopefully, Merlin had taken care of everything there. He was barely halfway back when he found Merlin and Gwen Winters running a full speed down the sidewalk.

"Merlin, what's going on?" Arthur asked as he ran up to them and began to keep pace.

"Rachel transformed and freaked out," Merlin answered, "She's bolted soon after."

"Where's the original werewolf?" Gwen asked.

"I have Griff taking him to the outskirts of the city," Arthur answered, "We can find a way to incarcerate him there."

"That monster attacked my sister," Gwen answered, "I want him dead."

"He was already beaten," Arthur answered, "I have killed before, medieval warfare and all that, but never in cold blood against a defeated opponent. It isn't chivalrous."

Griff slowly made his way through the air toward the outskirts of the city. It wasn't easy when he was also carrying the werewolf that had caused all the trouble the month before. As he finally reached the outskirts, he noticed something moving along the ground below him. The griffon-like gargoyle immediately decided to come down and investigate.

To surprise it was brown female wolf-like creature running at high speed away from the city. From what Griff could hear, the creature also sounded upset about something. With a quick maneuver he got ahead of the creature and landed directly in the creature's path. The creature skidded to a halt, fell down and seemed to look up at Griff in utter terror.

"Relax there," Griff tried to calm her down, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Who... what... what are you?" the female creature asked.

"I'm a gargoyle," Griff answered, "I'm from London."

"Like the war memorial?" the female creature asked.

Griff nodded with a grin, "One and the same. Why are you running?"

She sniffled, "I don't want to be a monster."

"Who said you are one now?" Griff asked.

"LOOK AT ME!" the female screamed, tears running down her fur, "I'm supposed to be human. I'm not supposed to be like this."

"Rachel Winters, I presume?" Griff asked.

Rachel looked up at the gargoyle nervously.

"How do you know that?" Rachel asked.

"My name is Griff, I work with Arthur and Merlin," Griff answered.

"Griff?" Rachel asked, "What happened to you? You were human when you arrived with Merlin and Arthur?"

"No, I was always a gargoyle," Griff answered, "Merlin merely cast an illusion spell that made me look human."

"Spell?" Rachel asked.

"Merlin is really Merlin, the legendary advisor to King Arthur," Griff explained, "He knows magic."

"I don't want to be a monster," Rachel said again.

"You won't be like that all the time," Griff answered, hoping that would calm her down, "Only during the full moon..."

Griff tried to remember some of the stuff he had read about werewolves and other such creatures when he was a hatchling.

"...or when you decide to transform yourself," Griff finished.

"I still don't want to be like this," Rachel answered, "I don't want to attack anyone. I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then why are you running?" Griff answered, "If you don't want to do anyone any harm, you should be alright."

"But look at me!" Rachel pleaded, "I've turned into a werewolf! Haven't you seen the movies?"

"One or two," Griff answered, "I'm also going to say that they're only movies. Hollywood hasn't treated gargoyles much better. Look at 'Ghostbusters'. The movie writers take parts of legends, like the werewolf legend, and twist it so they have a more obvious plot where you can tell who the bad guy is."

Griff then presented the unconscious werewolf that he had beaten earlier.

"This is the werewolf that attacked you last month," Griff explained, "He made it quite obvious that he was in complete control of his facilities when he battled Arthur and me. He wasn't in some bizarre 'bloodlust' like in the movies."

Rachel suddenly growled at the sight of the werewolf that attacked her, revealing her fangs.

"Whoa, easy," Griff cautioned, "I thought you didn't want to be a 'monster'?"

"In his case, I'm willing to make an exception," Rachel growled, "He did this to me."

"Arthur and Merlin should be here soon," Griff commented, "They will figure out a way to deal with him."

"So what do I do now?" Rachel asked, still sniffling somewhat.

She almost jumped when she heard a new voice answer her.

"I know this may not be what you want," came Merlin's voice from behind her, "but I would like you to return to London with Arthur, Griff, and me."

Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen came to approach Rachel and stand by her.

"The full moon or when you decide to change are not the only triggers for a were's transformation," Merlin explained, "Strong feelings of stress and anxiety can also trigger a transformation. I can help you gain full control over all that, so you don't accidentally change in front of someone."

"I still don't want to be this way," Rachel answered.

"If I had the power to make you normal, I would," Merlin sighed.

Merlin then raised hand and Rachel suddenly found herself covered in a strange green glow. When it faded, she found herself wearing a jumpsuit much like Griff's that fit her perfectly.

"What the?" Rachel asked.

"While your fur is currently covering everything, you are technically naked," Merlin answered, "This way you'll be wearing something when you change back. It should grow and shrink with you, depending on which form you're taking."

"Uh, thanks," Rachel shrugged.

"And now for the evil one," Merlin announced, and began chanting in Latin.

Suddenly a large section of ground disappeared, forming a fifty foot deep hole in the earth. It was five feet wide by twelve feet long, and its walls were completely vertical. The werewolf that Griff had been carrying suddenly appeared at the bottom of the hole, and various green energy bars ran across the top.

"There," Merlin commented, "He's locked down there and can't escape. The bars will keep anyone from falling in and magic in the bars will keep him feed and sheltered from the elements."

"Well done, Merlin," Arthur commented.

Merlin nodded, "Now, Arthur, all we have to do is return to London."

The next morning, Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel climbed into Gwen's car and prepared to leave for London. Griff's stone form was already seated and buckled in the backseat. Rachel was greatly relieved when she returned to human form, but was beginning to get used to all that had happened. Gwen walked with them to the car and leaned in the driver's side window.

"Be careful now," Gwen cautioned.

"I'll try," Rachel said weakly, "I'll miss you, sis."

"I'll miss you, too," Gwen answered, "But look at the bright side. I get the apartment to myself, and you get to go to London with two single gentlemen."

"I'm not going there date," Rachel answered, "Just to gain control over my... 'condition'."

"See you around, sis," Gwen waved as her sister began to drive away.

"See you," Rachel answered back.

**The End...**


	5. Lessons

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "Howling".

Lessons

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Mansion**

Rachel Winters collapsed into the bed that she had been given after arriving in London. The sun had just risen and her third night as a wolf-like creature for the month was over. For that she was glad. She found herself exhausted when she returned to her human form after spending the night in her wolf form. She hated being a werewolf. Despite Merlin and the London gargoyles insisting that she wasn't a monster, she could think of herself as anything but a monster.

She laid there for a few moments before she heard a knock on the door. Merlin poked his head in a little later, eyes closed.

"Are you decent?" Merlin asked.

Rachel looked down at the jumpsuit that she wore during the periods when she would shift to her wolf form and back again. Rachel was thankful that Merlin's promise that the clothing grew and shrunk with her when she grew or shrank was correct. The only thing she didn't want to do more then turn into a werewolf was turn back into a human without the jumpsuit on in front of a group of people.

"I'm decent yes," Rachel sighed.

Merlin's eyes finally opened and he opened the door further.

"Do you want to get some breakfast?" Merlin asked, "Arthur and Macbeth are already down there to start their day. I figured you might want to come down before all of the breakfast foods are eaten."

"Let me put on a pair of pants and a shirt first," Rachel answered, "I'm not going to go around like this when I'm not furry."

"Perfectly fine," Merlin nodded and then shut the door and headed on his way.

Rachel arrived downstairs about ten minutes later to find Merlin at work cooking something while both Arthur and Macbeth were seated and reading the paper. She glanced at both medieval kings and then at the cooking wizard. It seemed strange to the woman that Arthur Pendragon and Merlin, who was considered to be mostly myth by historians, and Macbeth, who few knew anything about other than from Shakespeare, were not only alive, but living under the same roof as her. But then, thanks to the werewolf that attacked her a month before, she would now be spending three nights as a large furry wolf creature. That fact alone made their story believable.

"Morning," Rachel sighed as she sat down at the table.

"Morning," Arthur replied.

Macbeth gave a polite nod.

"Anything specific you want with breakfast?" Merlin asked.

"Anything with bacon or ham or something," Rachel answered, almost enthusiastically.

"Right then," Merlin nodded, "Macbeth, Arthur?"

"Eggs and some toast," Arthur answered.

"The same," Macbeth added.

Merlin resumed his work while Rachel scrambled to find a section of the paper that Arthur and Macbeth weren't reading. Breakfast went along fine. They largely ate in silence. When Macbeth finished, he began his departure for the college and Arthur left shortly after for the dark room inside the mansion to develop some pictures from a recent case. Rachel was still eating. Another thing that the woman found somewhat embarrassing about being a werewolf, her appetite had increased to feed her metabolism. Merlin sat across the table slowly chewing his own food.

"I think we'll start on your training today," Merlin said slowly after a few moments.

"What training?" Rachel asked.

"To deal with your current abilities," Merlin answered, "so that way you don't get aggravated by something and transform in public."

"You're kidding," Rachel gasped, "I just went through three agonizing nights of transforming. I don't want to force myself to become... to become... that creature."

Merlin sighed. Rachel still referred to her wolf form as 'that creature' and she was taking the fact that she wasn't 'normal' anymore very hard. Of course he had no room to complain. Rachel hadn't had any contact with what Merlin considered normal before she was attacked, so he couldn't really compare himself to her. It still made him wonder how long it took Elisa and the other females in Goliath's clan to adjust to being gargoyles.

"You won't be establishing your 'trigger' and beginning to practice transforming today," Merlin sighed, "It's too close to the last full moon of the month. Trying to transform now with so little present control will exhaust you. This is mostly going to be an explanation about werewolves in general. To give you some of the basic facts, and correct some of the notions that much of folklore about weres has given you."

"It's just a 'lecture' today?" Rachel asked.

"Just a lecture," Merlin nodded, "I have a study on the second floor, if you could meet me there sometime this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "As you said, you've spent three nights transforming. You might want a little rest."

**Elsewhere**

Agent Anglo sat quietly as a scruffy looking man sat nervously eying him. Two other men holding handguns stood behind the man.

"Look, sir," the man began, "It wasn't my fault..."

"Arthur brought a gargoyle with him," Agent Anglo interrupted, expecting the man's line of thinking, "We expected Pendragon to take a gargoyle with him. You said you could deal with him."

"I meant I could take care of Arthur," the man said quickly, "I didn't say I could take care of Arthur AND a gargoyle."

"We had you run around York to distract Arthur and keep him away from London," Agent Anglo continued, "And while you did get him to go there, you failed to deal with him, and we did not authorize you to curse some innocent woman."

"Why didn't you punish me for attacking the Winters woman after I attacked her, then?" the man asked.

"Because you told us that it would help you take care of Arthur," Agent Anglo retorted, "the woman is currently living in the Mansion with Arthur."

"I'm sorry, sir," the man said in a submissive voice.

"You had better be sorry," Agent Anglo growled, "Do you know how much it cost do get you out of that hole Merlin left you in?"

The man didn't answer. Agent Anglo continued his role as the local leader.

"The Council wants Arthur Pendragon dead," Agent Anglo said firmly, "And they have begun two paths that will assure that he will end up that way. You will be one of those two paths."

"You're giving me another shot?" the man asked.

"The Council is," Agent Anglo said firmly, "And you will do exactly as I say. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," the man answered quickly.

**Mansion**

Rachel made her way through the mansion until she found Merlin's study. She found the wizard sitting a desk looking over several large books. She couldn't read what he was looking at, because she was too far away still to really see what language the books were even written in, but she could tell that they were written in style similar to an 'Old English' font.

"I'm here," Rachel announced carefully.

Merlin immediately looked up from his book and then over at a clock. He quickly put the book down and motioned for Rachel to sit down in a nearby chair.

"What were you looking at?" Rachel asked.

"Research into what various supposed 'prophets' have said will happen in the future," Merlin answered, "Trying to find out when 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' will occur."

"Can't you do that?" Rachel asked, knowing what they had already told her about Arthur's past and why he had sent to his enchanted sleep and why he came back.

"I know that something will threaten all of Britain," Merlin sighed, "But I can not be certain as to what it is or when it is."

Rachel sighed, deciding not to get into a discussion magic with the wizard, "Well, I'm here. Tell me more about werewolves."

Merlin nodded, "Well, okay."

The wizard then used his own magic to project the image of a being that looked very similar to a man. He stood on two legs with two very human-like feet. She did however notice some differences. The man had claws on his fingers and toes and his teeth also seemed to be rather pointed. Two wolf-like ears poked out through short and wild silvery colored hair.

"This, is Lycan," Merlin explained, "The fey who created the werewolf 'curse'."

"He doesn't look like you," Rachel commented.

"Not all fey look alike, and I'm only a halfling," Merlin answered, "His father's identity is hidden in mystery, but I do know that Luna was his mother..."

"Was?" Rachel interrupted, "Arthur said that the fey were immortal."

"Only in the sense that they do not age," Merlin explained, "They do have their own weaknesses. Iron and magic are chief among them. Now this is where some really ancient history is going to come into play."

Rachel nodded, listening patiently. As much as she didn't like being a werewolf and as strange as she thought some of Merlin, Arthur, and Macbeth's stories were, she did find them somewhat interesting for some obscure reason.

"During what is now known as the Greek Dark Ages, beginning around 1200 BC," Merlin began, "The fey race went through a massive civil war as a group of fey felt they had been cheated out of power. They divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts."

Merlin then replaced Lycan's image with that of Madoc and Oberon.

"Both Madoc and Oberon battled each other the right to rule over all the fey," Merlin continued, "Unfortunately for the mortal races at the time their war very quickly spread into their world. The gargoyle clans of Greece and Egypt were destroyed and those of the Middle East, Britain and Italy were scattered. Similar events probably occurred in other various parts of Africa, the Americas, and Asia, but I'm not certain."

Merlin then replaced the images of the leaders of the two great fey Courts with the images of several winged beings. One looked very much like the gargoyle Griff, while another looked like Octavia. One looked like a giant snake with wings. Another was a massive male that looked like a biblical demon.

"All gargoyles are by nature protectors," Merlin explained and then gestured to each image, "Be they from England, Rome, Latin America, or Scotland."

"What do gargoyles have to do with WEREWOLVES?" Rachel asked, sounding slightly impatient.

"Well, gargoyles were largely responsible for protecting the various Mycenae and Minoan cities in Greece before the First Unseelie War broke out," Merlin explained, "When these clans were destroyed, both by human conflicts going on at the same time, and by the battling fey, Greece had lost a strong part of what could be considered its own defense force."

Merlin then brought back Lycan's image.

"This is where Lycan came into play," Merlin explained, "Many of the Seelie Court, both during and after the First Unseelie War, wanted to do something to replace the lost gargoyles. Many were in favor of simply transforming enough humans into gargoyles that would secure the gargoyle gene pool in the regions that had suffered the most. Lycan argued that replacing the lost gargoyles with new gargoyles would only be problematic..."

**Mt. Olympus, During the 1st Unseelie War**

"My, lords," Lycan spoke to both Oberon and Zeus/Jupiter as a gathering of Seelie fey was taking place on top of the mountain, "The second race is not a viable option at this time. We need to do something else if we are to insure the Greeks have some sort of guardian."

"What else could there be?" Oberon questioned the younger fey, "Gargoyles are the second race and they are strong and can glide and see quite well at night. That gives them an advantage over humans who require sunlight or fire, merely to see where they're going."

Lycan looked quite embarrassed when he then saw Oberon's face which showed that the Seelie ruler wasn't too pleased with his comment. He looked around looking for support, but saw that Hera/Juno, Titania, the Weird Sisters, and especially his mother, and Ares/Mars looking much the same as Oberon.

"But unlike humans, my Lord," Lycan pleaded, "Gargoyles are vulnerable during the day because of their stone sleep, and your brother's forces continue to ravage Greece and other sections of the world."

"I trust you have a suitable idea for a replacement for the gargoyles, then?" Hera/Juno asked.

"Well," Lycan began, "I was thinking something along the lines of the humans..."

"The current plan is to transform humans into gargoyles," Ares/Mars pointed out, "You're now resuggesting what has already been decided in different words."

"No, not transform them into gargoyles," Lycan sighed, "Give them the ability to become somewhat like a strong type of animal that can both fight and provide for the various communities in which the chosen people live."

"Mortals with the power to shift their forms?" Titania questioned, "Interesting. And I assume this shape shifting is to be done at will?"

Lycan nodded, "That way they're not vulnerable the way gargoyles are vulnerable. They can take either their human or animal form, largely at will. This would do well since Madoc is likely to simply attack any new gargoyle clan that is created and destroy them as he's already done."

Ares/Mars was actually the first to nod.

"It might be the best solution," Ares/Mars commented, "Our war has not made life particularly easy or pleasant for many of the mortals. Gargoyle or human. The humans can at least flee from our battles when they occur during the day. The gargoyles can not."

Oberon nodded, "What strong animal do you suggest, young Lycan?"

"The wolf," Lycan answered, "They are social animals, like gargoyles and humans, and quite protective of those that they consider part of their pack. Among the humans, their 'pack' is their individual city."

"You may go ahead with you plan," Oberon said carefully, "You have my permission."

**Mansion, Present**

"...and Lycan then went to several of the cities in Greece whose gargoyle populations had been destroyed," Merlin continued, "And that is when he cast the spell that created the first werewolves, although, neither Titania nor the Lady of the Lake ever told me the wording of the spell."

"He created werewolves to be protectors?" Rachel asked, "Then how come that werewolf in York attacked me? And why are they the villain in almost every movie?"

Merlin's image changed to show the image of the werewolf that had attacked her and a female gargoyle wearing a tiara which pushed back her wild hair.

"Just because they were created to be protectors, doesn't mean that all of them decided to protect," Merlin sighed, "Unlike gargoyles, who seem to have a driving instinct to protect something and must define to themselves what it is they protect, werewolves were given a great deal of choice in what they would do with their lives. Many did become protectors. Some panicked like you did when you first transformed and ran off, occasionally passing their condition on to others. Some chose to use their abilities for their own personal gain."

Rachel looked on quietly.

"As for Hollywood," Merlin commented, "As Griff told you during your first full moon as a were, Hollywood largely takes small bits and pieces of legends and myths and twists them to fit a 'black and white' plot. Many people like seeing a good guy fight a bad guy, and it is common to make the human always be the good guy."

Rachel only gave an audible sigh in response.

"Well, I think that should cover the basic history and origins of werewolves," Merlin sighed, "I think I'll go over what all you are capable of doing and we'll call it a day."

"Okay," Rachel sighed.

"The ability to transform is the most obvious," Merlin began, "You have to transform on the nights of the full moon, and after training, you should be able to transform at any time you choose to."

"I'm not going to choose to," Rachel commented, "I'll deal with transforming three nights a month, but I'm not going to go and transform myself for the fun of it. I'm taking the training so that I don't transform in front of someone."

Merlin nodded, "That doesn't take away the ability. Your physical strength and endurance will increase whenever you're in your wolf form as well as the heightening of your senses."

"Am I vulnerable to silver, like in the movies?" Rachel asked, "Just curious."

"Yes," Merlin answered, "You'll want to avoid making contact with the metal. Fire can also be dangerous, but you should be able to easily recover from almost anything else, including getting shot."

"You don't mean to say that someone could shoot me and I'd survive?" Rachel asked.

"So long as the bullet wasn't made of silver, yes," Merlin answered.

"There's something new, I guess," Rachel commented, "Gwen and I don't have any real silver silverware. It's all steel."

Merlin shrugged, "Also as a side note, like any were, if you bite or scratch someone while transformed, they will become a werewolf themselves. So you will have to be careful."

"I'm going to try," Rachel answered him.

**Evening**

By the time the sun set, Merlin had become involved more with his talks with Arthur and Macbeth. Rachel sat at the same table, quietly eating a light dinner.

"As much as I'd like to," Merlin sighed, "We can't get rid of the Illuminati, even if they truly are the ones that are behind everything."

"I know," Arthur responded, "you've said that before. And I'm sorry if this upsets you Lady Rachel, but the werewolf that we battled in York bore the Illuminati's symbol. It seemed to me that in the end he was intending to fight us."

"That's evil," Rachel commented, "If they sent that werewolf after me to get you guys."

"There are many in the Illuminati that are that way," Macbeth answered, "They are interested in control and will do anything to maintain it."

"And you can't fight them?" Rachel asked.

"Not in the way you're thinking," Merlin sighed, "Their control is covert. The President of the United States, the Queen, and other important members of various governments aren't members, but various members of their advisors are, and those advisors are usually quite persuasive. At the same time, not everything the Illuminati does is evil as we would think of it. They're really in a sort of grey area that is hard to describe or define."

Arthur and Macbeth nodded.

"Our primary concern should still be finding out more about Britain's greatest hour of need," Merlin pointed out.

"Has your research found anything?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head, "No, I'm afraid. We may need to check Xanatos's library in New York, or with other sources in other places."

"What makes you think the information we need will be there?" Macbeth asked.

"Xanatos has collected various magical artifacts and texts that might prove helpful," Merlin explained, "And you never know what 'sort' of people went throughout Britain's Empire during its hay-day. We may not find a certain answer, but we could find some clues."

It was shortly after that the gargoyles arrived in the kitchen to have their 'breakfast' before heading out on their respective jobs.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Griff asked as he sat down with a bowl of cereal.

"I still have work to finish up work on a recent case," Arthur sighed.

"Grading school work," Macbeth added.

"Research," Merlin commented.

"I was thinking about taking a walk," Rachel commented, "Think about some of the stuff I've learned today."

Griff chuckled, "Well, I guess things will be quiet for a while now. We have our patrols and Una and Leo have the shop."

"You will stop by to help out when you're done playing hero for the night, right?" Una asked griffon-like male.

"Sure," Griff said back with a grin, "I might even be able to persuade Octavia to come with me."

There was some minor chuckling as the gargoyles traded jokes back and forth as they proceeded to join Merlin, Arthur, Macbeth, and Rachel at the table. Rachel was actually curious about something that Una had said when they first arrived.

"You have shop?" Rachel asked, "Like a business?"

Una turned back to glance at the woman. She had been largely secluding herself in her room during the past two nights because of her current condition. It saddened Una that Rachel felt so hurt by what had happened to her. She hoped that Rachel would get over everything eventually.

"Yes," Una nodded, "Leo and I run a small magic shop, selling trinkets and stuff, down in Soho. Costumers believe we are wearing masks and such to make the store 'seem' believable."

"I might have to stop by during my walk," Rachel commented, "That actually sounds kind of interesting."

"You will need to be careful on your patrols, Griff," Arthur warned, "Just to make sure no one's following you.

**Elsewhere**

The man that had earlier been frantically trying to defend himself against Agent Anglo sat quietly on park bench next to another man, named Jeremy Irons.

"I don't like this," the man grumbled, "I'm a warrior, not some lowly spy."

"Stop complaining," Jeremy answered back, "Our job is important. Remember, this is London. The capitol. You go around attacking Arthur while you're fuzzy, and you'll have lots of armed policemen after you, who won't give up."

"They only carry nightsticks," the man answered back, "I can handle a nightstick."

"Just remember there is a special police branch that does carry firearms," Jeremy warned, "And if you go on a rampage, the Illuminati members in those units will be given silver bullets."

That quieted the man down and he sat back against the bench. Jeremy Irons meanwhile went back to a small laptop computer that he had with him. On the screen was a display of a small room inside the Mansion in which Arthur lived. In it, Merlin was busy laboring over several old texts, getting nowhere, from what Jeremy could see.

"What are you looking at?" the man asked.

"Right now, I believe it is Arthur's advisor, Merlin," Jeremy answered.

"Why are you watching him?" the man questioned, "Anglo's orders were to follow Arthur."

"Yes," Jeremy nodded, "But Arthur is trying to find out more about 'Britain's greatest hour of need'. Except for your attack on the Winters woman, all his cases have usually involved disloyal spouses and crimes so petty that the police largely wouldn't bother with. Nothing that's going to lead him to the greatest hour of need. The key right now is Merlin."

"How so?" the man grumbled.

"Merlin knows magic and knows more about the prophesy then Arthur does," Jeremy explained, "While the Illuminati has made sure to control all the certain prophesies in relation to the greatest hour of need, that doesn't mean that that old wizard can't draw strings together from the less certain sources and that he can't find him. It's Merlin who we need to watch closely."

"And I'm being held here to watch some guy look at a computer watching another guy read a book," the man grumbled, "Anglo also wanted the Winters 'mistake' dealt with."

"In due time," Jeremy answered, "Remember, it took the Illuminati decades to fully take over the world."

**Above London**

Griff's patrol team glided slowly over southern London. Griff lead the way with Octavia close behind. Lancelot and Guinevere followed them. The night had been a relatively average one for them. They had caught and stopped a few muggers, but had found nothing more serious then that. Griff was also careful to make sure that no one was following them somehow or obviously spying on them.

"It is good that Miss Winters seemed to be feeling better," Octavia commented.

Griff nodded, "Yes. She does look like she's feeling better, but she's also not in her werewolf form right now. It's quite obvious that she didn't want to be a werewolf in the first place."

"Hopefully she'll get used to it then," Lancelot piped up, "Like most of the females in the Manhattan clan."

They kept gliding in silence for a few moments before Griff spoke up again.

"They might be able to help," Griff commented, "Elisa, Caroline, Candy, and Amy were all human once. They could help Rachel with the fact that she's a werewolf."

"We'd have to talk to Merlin and Rachel to make sure it would be alright to go to Manhattan or confer with Xanatos to see if it was alright if she came here," Octavia said.

"Which we'll do later," Griff nodded.

**Soho**

Rachel quietly walked along the darkened streets toward Una and Leo's shop. It felt good to get outside for once and get some exercise. Sitting around the mansion had seemed to bore her somewhat. Her thoughts continued to dwell on her condition. Especially the information that Merlin had given her earlier in the day.

"Werewolves as protectors," Rachel mused to herself, "Certainly goes against everything Hollywood has shown, but Merlin was right about the ability to make my own choices. I never drooled uncontrollably and I was never feeling any urge to go out and attack people. I seemed to be in control of myself. Which is good, considering that I'm now turning into something that looks like it would eat people... YUCK!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a scream come from a nearby alley.

"Leave me alone!" a woman's voice screamed out.

Rachel rushed over to see a very large man in punk clothing trying to mug a woman. The man brandished a knife and looked set to cut her throat.

"I've got to help her," Rachel thought, "But that guy is an awfully big guy, and I'm not all that powerful physically..."

Rachel then remembered something Merlin had told her earlier in the day.

'Your physical strength and endurance will increase whenever you're in your wolf form...'

"Great," Rachel muttered to herself, "I find some massive man assaulting some woman and the only way to save her is to transform into a creature I don't like, which I'm currently unable to do outside the full moon."

Quickly looking around for something she could use as a weapon, she found a moderately sized cylindrical trash can with the lid sitting loosely on top. Grabbing the lid, Rachel began to creep up behind the man, hoping the woman wouldn't alert the man to her presence.

"Somebody help me!" the woman screamed as Rachel crept closer.

"Shut up!" the man growled back.

The man raised his knife to slash the woman with it as Rachel got closer to their position. Rachel then raised the garbage can lid and then slammed it down on the man's head. The blow succeeded in knocking the knife out of his hand, but didn't knock the man out. He turned around rubbing the back of his head.

"What the..." the man began to growl.

Rachel hit him again, this time landing a blow to its face. The man shuffled back while his intended victim began to shuffle behind Rachel. Rachel then moved forward and hit the man again. After a fourth blow from the garbage can lid, the man finally fell to the ground unconscious, and Rachel merely dropped the lid as well.

"Thank you," the woman said meekly.

Rachel turned to look at her. The woman looked somewhat dirty from being forced into the corner of an alley, but she didn't look hurt. That made Rachel breathe a sigh of relief.

"I couldn't let this creep hurt you," Rachel answered, "It was the right thing to do."

The woman nodded.

"You can call for the police, right?" Rachel asked, "I'm on a rather tight schedule, and can't stay."

The woman nodded again, "Thank you for helping me."

"I did what anyone would do," Rachel answered as she began to continue on her way to Una and Leo's shop once more.

A few minutes later Rachel entered Una and Leo's rebuilt shop. The building's exterior didn't differ much from the way it looked before it had been burned down, although Rachel didn't know this. It was the interior that really impressed Rachel. The layout and floor plan was fairly modern, but the way Una and Leo had arranged everything it seemed almost medieval. This actually made the shop's purpose, selling 'magical' and mystical objects easier. Rachel even saw one or two customers looking around. After a few moments, Una approached her.

"Hello, Miss Winters," Una greeted her, "Welcome to Into the Mystic."

"Hello, Una," Rachel replied, "This seems like quite the place. What all do you sell her besides charms and trinkets?"

"Largely books, statues, spell ingredients for those actually practice magic and for those who like to pretend to practice magic," Una answered.

"Uh-hm," Rachel nodded, looking around, "May I ask a 'gargoyle' related question?"

Una glanced around to see that the other costumers in the shop were far enough away that they wouldn't hear them, or at least wouldn't know what was said. Once she was certain, she nodded.

"Do you and Leo patrol the way Griff and the others do?" Rachel asked.

"From time to time, but because one of us still has to run the shop, were rarely patrol together," Una asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I was just barely able to stop some woman from getting mugged and possibly killed while I was on my way here," Rachel sighed.

The human woman paused for a moment before continuing.

"Earlier today, Merlin described werewolves as protectors, or at least that was the intention that they would be protectors when they were created," Rachel continued, "And while Merlin said that I can choose what I do with my... with my werewolf form, I know that if I hadn't done something, that woman would have been killed. It's made me wonder, would it be right for me to just try to accept hat's happened to me."

"You shifted?" Una asked.

"No," Rachel shook her head, "I hit the guy over the head with a garbage can lid, but I'm pretty sure my 'rescue' would have gone a lot easier if I had mastered my transformation trigger by now."

Una stood quietly while Rachel sighed.

"I don't want to be a werewolf," Rachel said plainly, "But, after what I just encountered, it have been better if I took my werewolf form, which I can only take because of the attack that I suffered a month ago. Should I accept what's happened to me in case I come across more things like this?"

"Only you can answer that question," Una answered, "Are you willing or wanting to become a protector the way gargoyles are protectors? The way Merlin described to you?"

"I don't know," Rachel sighed, "If I come across it maybe, but I don't really want to go looking for it."

"Do you want to see, hear, or learn about people being attacked or killed?" Una asked again.

"Certainly not," Rachel answered.

"Then you may have to put up with being a werewolf," Una commented, "At least to protect what you decide to hold as your protectorate. If not that, you'll have to put with the crime that exists in the world."

"And both have drawbacks," Rachel sighed.

Una nodded, "Sometimes we must decide which 'drawbacks' are bigger than others. During World War Two, many people of this island had a choice. They could choose between risking their lives or risking their freedom. Griff for example chose to risk his life to protect his freedom. Leo and I didn't believe our freedom was truly in danger and decided to try and protect our lives."

"Both of you succeeded, then," Rachel commented, "Germany, Italy, and Japan all lost the Second World War to the Allied powers."

"That doesn't take the risks that occurred during the war away though," Una pointed out, "And the end result of a war never changes the fears that occur during it. The danger that the Allies and Axis soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and Griff, and a time traveling Goliath faced was quite real at all times."

Rachel only looked down.

"Anyway," Una commented, "This isn't something you should worry about now. Wait until after you've mastered your transformations, and then worry about whether or not you will be a protector or simply innocent."

"I guess," Rachel sighted, "But it's going to be a long road."

**The End...**


	6. Battle of the Wolves

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "Lessons".

Battle of the Wolves

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Mansion**

Arthur sat quietly thinking over the current situation he found himself in. He knew that he couldn't outright fight the Illuminati over the issue, yet at the same time the fact that the werewolf that had attacked Rachel Winters was an Illuminati agent, and that he had performed his attack to get him out of London to be killed, made the 'Once and Future King' believe that there was something that they knew that he didn't.

"Troubled about something?" a voice asked from behind him.

He turned to see Rachel standing behind him in the special jumpsuit that Merlin had created during the nights when she would transform.

"Hm?" Arthur asked back.

"You looked like you were deep in thought about something," Rachel answered, "Is something troubling you?"

"Only the Illuminati and their current involvement in my life," Arthur answered, "They have to know something. Why else would they bother to do what they've done?"

"You think they're an enemy?" Rachel asked.

"More like a puzzle," Arthur explained, "I can't figure out why they sent a werewolf up to York to get me to go there. If I'm such a threat to them, why didn't they just attack me here? Why all the elaboration? Why did they have to involve you?"

Rachel sat down next to him.

"You're not feeling guilty about all this are you?" Rachel asked, "I didn't even know you or Merlin till my overly, and probably justly, concerned sister brought you to my door."

"I promised to protect Britain when I took the throne," Arthur answered, "All of this has simply raised questions as to whether that vow was the right one to make. I couldn't insure Britain's safety in the Middle Ages. The Romans had gone to try and save their Empire, and I only managed to keep the Saxons at bay. Eventually my kingdom fell to them."

"Remember that most modern English men have more ancestry from the Angles and Saxons then from the Britons or from the few Roman nobles who remained in Britain," Rachel interrupted.

"And the Normans as well," Arthur nodded, "But they came much later, while I was asleep. The problem is that changes in power are never painless, especially when one side is conquered. I couldn't protect Britain from suffering that pain then."

Arthur looked down for a moment, "And now it appears that I might not be able to do what Merlin has told me that I have fated to do."

"You'll do it," Rachel encouraged, "You, Merlin, and your comrades have all bent over backwards to try and help me, surely you can stop whatever evil is coming."

"We need to figure out what it is first," Arthur answered, "And I will not break the law just to find out."

"Worry about it when it comes then," Rachel commented, "Don't worry about what will come before it comes."

Arthur nodded. The two sat quietly for a few moments before Arthur spoke again.

"So, how did your lesson go?" Arthur asking, trying to change the subject slightly.

Rachel only sighed, "Fine, I guess. I could get my body temperature to rise, but nothing else. I think I wore Merlin out."

"It'll take time," Arthur commented.

"I know," Rachel answered, "But I don't want this. I'll accept it if it means I can prevent someone from being hurt by a crook, should I come across it, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't want this in first place."

"Understandable," Arthur answered.

"But, if I'm to help someone, I need to be able to transform at will, which I need to learn anyway to make sure I don't get angry at something and turn into a seven foot tall wolf creature in the middle of work," Rachel answered, "It's frustrating that I couldn't do anything."

"I'm sure you'll master it all in time," Arthur commented.

"I'd like to master it now," Rachel answered, "Then I can know what I'm going to do with it."

Merlin quietly walked by, letting Arthur and Rachel talk with each other. He had thought that Rachel had actually made more progress than the woman gave herself credit for. They had decided to use the full moon as the transformation trigger. Rachel had tried thinking about it, but could only manage to get her body temperature to raise a few degrees. It showed progress, and was a very good first try, but from what Merlin had read and learned from actually meeting with other weres and from his knowledge of magic, simply thinking about the full moon would get her to change.

Most weres that Merlin had met prior to the present mentioned that they had to not only think about, but visualize their individual triggers and almost desire to change. Merlin had learned much the same with his magic. Saying the right words wouldn't cast a spell. Even for a full blooded fey. Intense focus and concentration were required. Some spells also required physical movements, but they were secondary. Once Rachel got the hang of it, Merlin was confident that she would find the process easier and easier the more she practiced. Now, if she only transformed when the full moon was out, she might not, but gaining basic control would at least prevent her from changing in front of someone who wouldn't keep her secret.

Merlin pondered over how to try and continue Rachel's training as he quietly walked up the stairs to the second floor of the mansion. He hoped he could find an answer.

**Elsewhere**

Jeremy Irons stood quietly in front of Agent Anglo explained the latest orders that had been given to him. The scruffy looking man stood behind Jeremy, looking very nervous. The fact that there were two guards armed with guns loaded with silver bullets didn't make him feel at all comfortable.

"Merlin has begun training the Winters woman to control her curse?" Anglo asked.

"You didn't expect him to?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"I expected it," Anglo answered, "But not this soon and not to the extent that it has been done."

"And you want her removed?" the scruffy looking man asked, almost eagerly.

"She will have to be eventually," Anglo answered, "And if she masters her abilities, it will be difficult to do so. I will remind you that you were never to pass your 'curse' on to others."

The scruffy looking man ducked behind Jeremy.

"Should I assemble the police to assault the mansion?" Jeremy asked.

"No," Anglo answered, "Their investigation of Arthur has only just begun. Of course they're all on trumped up charges and many don't want to arrest a 'knight', but they working. Our furry friend here is to get another chance."

"Me, sir?" the scruffy looking man asked from behind Jeremy.

"Yes you," Anglo answered firmly, "Ms. Winters has taken to taking walks around London, including visits to a shop in Soho."

"The one that Morrigan burned down?" Jeremy asked.

Anglo nodded, and then addressed the scruffy looking man, "This time when you attack her make sure she's dead!"

The scruffy looking man smiled, "Can do."

"What about Arthur and his companions?" Jeremy asked.

"For now, they are still to be monitored," Anglo answered, "But we must remove the Winters woman from the picture. With her gone, our previous mistake has been corrected and we can return our focus to Arthur. He might even be driven to make a mistake after learning that the woman has died."

"I will continue my monitoring then," Jeremy nodded.

Jeremy then departed the room, leaving the nervous scruffy looking man facing the Illuminati agent. The man gulped nervously.

"Now, you and I, are going to discuss how you're going to deal with all this," Agent Anglo said in a firm voice.

**Mansion**

Dusk came and went and the London Clan threw off their stone shells to greet the new night. Griff was quick to head downstairs to see if Arthur needed him for anything. Octavia trotted after him, while Chloe went off in search of Macbeth. Lancelot, Gawain, and Guinevere were content to follow Julia, Leo, and Una to the kitchen to get a breakfast.

Griff found Arthur actually preparing to go out for the night. Surprisingly Rachel stood next to him.

"Big night, tonight, your majesty?" Griff asked.

"Merely going for a walk," Arthur answered, "No clients have come in recently so I've been stuck here. I thought I'd join Rachel on one of her walks and get some exercise."

"So we just have our patrols, then, eh?" Griff answered with a chuckle.

Arthur nodded, "Just be on your guard. The Illuminati probably know of our alliance and will probably try to monitor you."

"They could never catch us," Griff answered.

"I don't think that 'catching' you is their goal," Arthur retorted, "I believe it is me that they are interested in."

"We will keep an eye out," Octavia spoke up, "If they have a spy, we will try to get him to talk. Perhaps we could get some answers."

Arthur nodded and slowly began to walk off with Rachel for some exercise while Griff and Octavia turned back into the mansion.

"Hopefully Merlin is able to discover when this island's greatest hour of peril is soon," Octavia commented quietly as they began to head toward the kitchen, "I fear that we will be unable to stop whatever it is when it arrives if we don't know what it is."

"You're not selling us short are you?" Griff asked.

"No," Octavia answered, "You are quite brave, and your training has been going along quite well. Arthur and Macbeth are also very capable fighters, and Merlin and Una are strong in magic. But look at the lessons of history. Nations rose and fell based on the knowledge of their enemies. Rome grew because it had some understanding of the Celts and how they fought, and they designed their army to fight in a more organized manner. Rome fell because they didn't know the Germans and the Huns who came in with new tactics that they couldn't match. Britain and the United States knew how to deal with Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union because they knew how those states operated and knew how to oppose them. All we know right now is that we are to face opposition in the future, but if we don't know who it is, or how this enemy will operate, we will be in trouble."

"I think we'll be ready," Griff said confidently, "There's nothing Merlin can't find out. Have some faith."

"One can not live on blind faith," Octavia retorted, "Knowledge, skill, and ability must also be applied. If not, the Children's Crusade would have been successful."

The two kept on walking quietly.

Meanwhile, in his study Merlin sat quietly reading various ancient texts and some newer ones. The newer books were mostly lists of other ancient texts, and Merlin had been using them as a reference. The older ones were mostly texts that he had acquired over the years. Some were prophesy books while others were merely references to things that were considered myth by the rest of the world. Few of the books he was looking through were actually available to the public, since the authors had written long before the printing press and no historian had discovered the text.

"Why does every magician who possessed 'foresight' see the World Wars and not anything else?" Merlin wondered silently to himself until he flipped the page and gasped, "What in the world?"

He looked closer at the text, trying to get some sort of answer from it.

"Arthur and Macbeth will need to know about this," Merlin muttered.

**City Park**

Arthur and Rachel's walk had taken them into a quiet park in London. The Once and Future King tried his best to keep the woman's mood upbeat and keep her mind off her condition by answering various questions that she still had about his past.

"I will say you seem to be very curious about all this," Arthur commented.

"I'm sorry if I'm annoying you," Rachel replied, "It's just that I've been thrown into a world that no one would even believe. I mean, my mother would never believe that I'm actually walking through London with Arthur PENDRAGON. Of course, she wouldn't believe that I'm a werewolf either..."

The woman paused for a moment before continuing.

"And well, learning about all the great days of 'Camelot' is a way to simply understand more about these weird sorts of things," Rachel continued, "Unless you know a few things about being a werewolf."

"That, my lady, I do not know," Arthur sighed, "That is Merlin's department."

"Have you seen 'Monty Python'?" Rachel asked, "Just curious."

"Una and Leo had copies of their movies in their old shop," Arthur answered, "Griff got curious and we ended up watching about all of them."

Rachel gave a slight chuckle, "So what did you think of 'the Holy Grail'?"

"Fairly humorous, if not accurate," Arthur answered, "The ending confused me though."

"Confused you?" Rachel smirked back.

"Well, why do 'I' end up arrested at the end of the movie, and the search for the Grail and the battle against the 'French' never gets resolved?"

"They probably just ran out of time to film that part," Rachel answered, muffling some laughter, "They were always funny, sometimes in a weird way. Resolving everything would not have fit the way they did things."

The two continued on quietly for a few moments before Rachel brought up a new question.

"Do you know what happened to your knights and such after you went to Avalon?" Rachel asked.

"Most died in the battle that required me to go to Avalon," Arthur answered, "I've never asked Merlin about the fate of those who lived, mostly because of the fact that they are dead now anyway. I didn't feel it was a question worth asking."

"Oh," Rachel said simply.

A few yards away, concealed within bushes, the scruffy looking man quietly watched the two walk down the path. He enjoyed using his abilities and loved the fact that he had been given an opportunity to correct his 'mistake'. Although, now he didn't necessarily want to kill the woman. He knew she was a were, like himself, and his heightened senses could smell her scent, even from the bushes. She carried the same scent that every were carried. Not bad, and not all that different from the usual scent that humans carried, but it did give away what she could become. After learning that she had come to London, he had various thoughts about getting her to join him, but he also knew that his masters were to be obeyed, and they wanted her dead. The fact that Pendragon was with her was a surprise, but if he killed him as well, it would mean he pleased his masters.

He began to creep forward as he felt his fingernails lengthen into claws.

**Elsewhere**

Lancelot glided low over the rooftops of several buildings while hastily scanning the ground for any possible signs of crime.

"You'd best glide slower and glide higher," Julia commented from above him.

The young Avalon gargoyle looked up to see Julia, Guinevere, and Gawain gliding above him.

"This is fun though," Lancelot argued, "and this way I can be the first to save someone if we spot foul activity."

"You're hanging around Griff too much, or you're taking Arthur's stories too seriously," Guinevere commented, "This isn't the Middle Ages we're in now. Remember what Goliath's clan taught us about this time."

"On top of that, you're not likely to see much at the speed you're going," Julia added, "Especially in an urban landscape. And at that height, it will be easier for humans to spot you."

"Kill joy," Lancelot muttered, but he did listen to the two females, "How can I do something heroic if I can't get there first?"

"How can the rest of us help anyone if you do everything?" Gawain commented from behind him.

"The both of you have good ideals for the task that must be done," Julia cautioned, "But remember that we protect because it is what must be done, not only to insure order, but also to maintain justice. You're not going to get special honors for saving people."

"Arthur might make us knights, though," Lancelot pointed out.

"Again, you've been hanging around Griff too much," Guinevere said firmly.

Lancelot was about to answer when he noticed a group of people standing on top of a nearby roof. He didn't pay close attention to them at first, but after a few seconds, one of them raised a blaster and aimed it at them.

"Uh-oh!" Lancelot gulped as one of the people fired.

"Attackers," Julia growled and began to dive toward group of people after the shot flew harmlessly between all the gargoyles in the group.

Lancelot, Gawain, and Guinevere were quick to follow. All of the men were dressed in black with the exception of a small pin on their collar. It also became quickly clear that these men were not entirely skilled fighters. Julia quickly knocked out the first man, and had seized the second. Lancelot and Gawain tackled another two, while the last man fled down the stairs, away from Guinevere.

"That was easy," Gawain commented.

Julia removed the pin from the collar of man she had grabbed and studied it closely.

"Too easy," the Roman gargoyle answered, and then turned to question the man himself, "What is your plan?"

"What?" the man asked, feigning ignorance.

"Why did you attack us?" Guinevere rephrased the question.

"Do I need a reason?" the man asked back.

"Illuminatus, most humans in Europe do not know that gargoyles live in Europe," Julia explained, "They believe that they are an American 'problem'. Do not try to act like you're simply another racist. Especially considering the pins that you and comrades are wearing. You have to have set orders, and I want to know what they are."

Julia then held the man over the edge of the building.

"Or I could drop you," Julia threatened.

The man quickly gulped, "We were ordered to observe Pendragon's allies for the Council. We only figured that if we defeated some of his allies, it would be easier to defeat Pendragon."

Julia then threw the man down amongst the other Illuminati agents.

"Tie them up and leave them here," Julia ordered, "We'll leave them for their masters to deal with."

Lancelot and Gawain nodded and began looking for something they could use to tie them up with. Guinevere meanwhile approached Julia.

"You wouldn't have actually dropped him, would you?" Guinevere asked.

"No," Julia answered, "He was beaten. To drop him would have been dishonorable. At the same time, dropping him would not have helped us get the answers we need, so it would have been poor tactics to drop him. But sometimes, the mere threat of an action is enough to achieve the goals that must be met."

The Park

Arthur and Rachel were preparing to head back toward the mansion when Rachel suddenly heard something creeping through the bushes behind them.

"Do you hear that?" Rachel asked.

"Hear what?" Arthur asked back.

"It's a soft rustling sound," Rachel answered, "Like someone is very carefully walking across slightly moist leaves."

"I don't hear anything," Arthur responded.

A new voice then cut in before Rachel could answer.

"Of course you can't!" a large grey werewolf growled as it leapt from the bushes and knocked Arthur back with one swing of its large fist.

Rachel turned around to face it in horror.

"Unlike you and me, my dear, he only has a human's hearing," the werewolf gave a toothy grin.

"You!" Rachel gasped.

"Yes, me," the werewolf smiled and began to advance toward her, "I have orders to correct an earlier mistake."

"Merlin imprisoned you!" Arthur exclaimed as he pulled himself up and drew Excalibur, "How could you have escaped?"

"With a little help from my friends," the werewolf laughed, "You're not the only one who associates with magicians."

Arthur began to advance on the werewolf, Excalibur ready. He didn't know if he could be fast enough to kill the offending were, but he hoped that the werewolf would consider him to be the greater threat, since Rachel wasn't likely to attack him, especially as she was still in her human form.

"You won't harm her," Arthur said firmly, pointing Excalibur at the werewolf.

"You can't stop me, and I'm betting she doesn't have the control right now to fight me herself," the werewolf smiled back.

Arthur raised Excalibur to strike, only to be punched again by the werewolf.

"And now for you," the werewolf snarled at Rachel, who was still backing away.

Rachel was frightened beyond belief. The were that had attacked her was back again and before her in its wolf form, and preparing to kill her. And she knew that he was right, she hadn't learned to fully control her curse yet and could only get her body temperature to rise, but couldn't fully trigger the change. At the same time, she hated the were with a passion for what he had done to her. She continued to back away, not noticing that she was starting to feel warmer.

"You know, to an extent, I wish I didn't have to kill you," the werewolf spoke to Rachel, "but orders are orders. I have to follow them, but maybe you could help me out."

The werewolf smiled as he saw Rachel's eyes change from brown to golden.

"If I could frighten you into changing," the werewolf continued, "and make this all look like a fight, I would feel better."

"Leave me alone!" Rachel yelled back, and suddenly brought her hands over her mouth.

Her voice had sounded rougher, almost having a growling tone to it. She then looked at her hands. Her fingernails were starting to grow longer, and she could already see the beginnings of a coat of brown fur growing on the back of her hands. She could hear the werewolf laughing as her shoes began to feel tight around her feet.

"Leave her alone!" Arthur ordered as he returned to the area and slashed at the werewolf with Excalibur.

The werewolf leaped back to avoid taking a serious injury from the blade, but couldn't get far enough away to avoid taking the very tip of the sword across his arm. The werewolf screamed with pain as the tip of Excalibur drew blood, but he easily recovered.

"I guess I should kill you first," the werewolf growled and turned to face Arthur, totally forgetting Rachel.

Rachel was horrified as she watched the werewolf turn to fight Arthur. She could feel her teeth starting to lengthen into fangs and her clothes were beginning to feel tight as she grew larger. Her feet had already grown through her shoes and she was already rising up onto the balls of her feet. Pain gripped her as her clothes ripped as her growing size began to be too much for them. Her own mind was frightened by the fact that she could now hear herself growling and snarling as her transformation advanced. Her ears were moving and growing pointed.

Arthur dove to a side as the werewolf lunged at him, and barely avoided being clawed by the beast. He slashed his sword again at the werewolf, this time leaving a deeper wound along its side. Again, the were screamed in pain, but this time, since the wound was more serious, it allowed Arthur to get up and kick the creature in the head, knocking it over. The werewolf slowly raised himself, growling viciously.

Rachel began to scream as she felt her face grow out into a muzzle, her teeth growing larger to fit it properly. Once her muzzle was fully grown, she felt increased pressure on the base of her spine. Her tail was beginning to grow out and as it grew out, Rachel found herself unable to resist howling.

The werewolf paused its attack when it heard Rachel's howl.

"Ah, she's finished," the werewolf laughed and grabbed Arthur by the shirt and threw him back into the bushes.

The werewolf turned, only to be tackled by Rachel as the female were drove him to the ground.

"Leave us alone!" Rachel growled, baring her own fangs.

The male were, however, flipped under her and kicked her into the same bushes he had thrown Arthur earlier.

"You okay?" Arthur asked from his position as Rachel tried to right herself.

"I'm not hurt," Rachel sighed, "but I could have had a better night. He didn't claw you did he?"

"So far, no," Arthur answered.

Both were forced to dodge as the werewolf leapt between then, tried to claw at Arthur and snapped its jaws at Rachel. It missed, but drove both of its enemies back. Rachel only raised her own clawed hands and snarled at the attacking were, while Arthur raised Excalibur to strike the werewolf if he tried anything.

"You can't beat me," the werewolf nearly laughed back, "Your gargoyle friend isn't here and that sword isn't made of silver. At the same time your girlfriend here doesn't know how to fight. She's only angry."

Rachel lunged at the were, and managed to slash at his back with her claws. The werewolf however managed to throw her off of him and into Arthur.

"See?" the werewolf smiled confidently.

A new voice then cut in before the were could advance on them.

"No, care to try again?" came Macbeth's voice from above them.

The werewolf looked up to see the immortal Scottish king on a hoversled with an electric blaster ready. Macbeth then fired his electric blaster at the were, before the werewolf could do anything. The blast caused were pain and threw him against a tree, but did no damage that he couldn't heal from.

"Now, Chloe!" Macbeth spoke out.

Arthur and Rachel exchanged glances as the forest green female gargoyle appeared behind the male werewolf and grabbed him in a full nelson. The werewolf struggled, but the gargoyle managed to hold him down. Rachel then snarled at the werewolf and advanced on him.

"We can't kill him!" Chloe protested as Rachel came closer.

Rachel raised a fist and then punched the werewolf between the eyes. The blow ended up knocking both Chloe and the werewolf to the ground, but the gargoyle was surprised to find that the male werewolf was out cold.

"You have my thanks," Arthur spoke to Macbeth as he landed his hoversled, "but what brings you out here?"

"Merlin has found something," Macbeth answered, "And he wouldn't say what it is until you returned."

"We need to get back then," Arthur said, "If Merlin's found something it has to be important."

"I'll carry this lump back," Chloe commented, "Merlin can imprison him again in the mansion somewhere."

The gargoyle leaped against a tree branch and took off into the night sky. Arthur meanwhile joined Macbeth on the hoversled.

"Let me get what remains of my normal clothes," Rachel spoke up as she trotted out to where she had transformed.

**Elsewhere**

"You did not have authorization to attack them," Anglo scolded the Illuminati agent that had snuck into his office, all his bravery scared out of him.

"I'm sorry, but we thought..." the agent began to stammer.

"You're not supposed to think either," Anglo growled, "Your orders were to observe the allies not attack them. If you were to fight them, we would have told you to fight them."

"I'm sorry sir," the agent whimpered.

Anglo sighed, "Not to worry. More than likely they only learned that we're observing them, which they should already know considering the failed York mission."

The door then opened, and Anglo looked up to see Jeremy Irons walk into the office room looking rather nervous.

"What is it?" Anglo asked.

"I'm afraid I have bad news, sir," Jeremy reported, "There were failed again, sir. Apparently the woman he bit has either gained control over her transformations, or he scared her enough that the sheer terror of seeing him caused her to change."

"A newly created werewolf can not defeat one with some combat experience," Anglo commented, not believing a word of what had been said.

"She can when aided by two of the greatest warriors of the Middle Ages and a female gargoyle," Jeremy answered, "A reconnaissance team reported to me that she was with Pendragon when he attacked and that Macbeth and forest green gargoyle late intervened to defeat our were."

Anglo put his face in his hands and muttered, "Perfect."

**The Mansion**

"What is it you found, Merlin?" Arthur asked as he walked into Merlin's study. Macbeth and Rachel followed close behind. Rachel was glad that she was still wearing the special suit Merlin had conjured up for her wolf form as she lost her ability to retain her wolf form after she had calmed down.

"It's not much, but I've finally found something that gives us a clue as to what this 'greatest hour of need' will be," Merlin answered, "It's in a book of prophesies written by a minor sorcerer, who was actually from what is now Holland, shortly after you went to Avalon, Arthur."

"What does it say?" Macbeth questioned.

"He first mentions a great war occurring in the east," Merlin explained while running his finger down the lines of a book, "And then mentions men 'falling' from the sky and the death of the island monarchy."

"The man is predicting paratroopers?" Macbeth asked.

"I doubt that," Merlin answered, "Germany's only major offensive involving paratroopers against an island, was against Crete, not England. And the monarchy wasn't destroyed by the war. I think the term 'falling' is representing something else. It could mean paratroopers, but it could also mean something else."

"Like what?" Arthur asked.

"Various things," Merlin sighed, "It could be a reference to gargoyles, since their wings allow them to glide. It could be a fey invasion, which is probably unlikely with the defeat of the Unseelie Court. It could even mean extraterrestrials."

"Aliens?" Rachel asked, somewhat shocked.

"There are many planets out there in the universe, and scientists here have already come to believe that there are some planets or moons within our solar system that with some modification could easily support human life," Merlin explained, "so with a universe as large as ours, it's not improbable that there isn't another planet that has life on it, sentient or otherwise."

"What about this war in the east?" Arthur asked.

"That's actually the tricky part," Merlin sighed, "It can depend on your definition of 'east'. Does it mean direction or does it refer to a general area. Take World War II for an example. In the Pacific, the American advance against the Japanese was from the east heading west. But the region they were attacking toward is commonly called the Far East. Is that what they mean? Or does it mean that it will occur east of some place, and if so, what is the place we need to start from?"

"Does the book say anything about that?" Macbeth asked.

"No," Merlin sighed, "It says... 'A great war shall begin in the east and involve much of the world.' That's about as far as the text goes. It doesn't go much into the war's details itself."

"Is there any sort of reference to other sorcerers or sign of correspondence with others?" Macbeth asked.

"He does have a diary in the book as well," Merlin answered, "But he doesn't list any other sorcerers at the time that might help, and unfortunately this is the last book of my collection."

"Did you recheck the others to see if they have anything about this particular sorcerer?" Arthur asked.

"I did a linking spell," Merlin answered, "It should bring any book in my collection that talked about similar subjects to me. The only thing I got was a small book that I had written to serve as a catalogue for the books in the collection."

"You might have to travel the world after all," Macbeth sighed, "See if anyone else has a similar collection."

Merlin nodded, but still sounded defeated when he spoke, "That will still be difficult. Many of the sorcerers of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages are unknown in either the historical record or in myth. Some, like myself and Nostradamus are mentioned, but many aren't. No one knows of the Archmage or the Magus from Scotland. No one knows about the Mage."

"Fewer probably know that the Mage was actually Remus," Macbeth commented, remembering the clan's final battle against the man.

"So that's who he was," Merlin muttered to himself, "You'll have tell me more about that after we've finished dealing with this problem."

"So what are you going to do now?" Rachel asked.

"You and I, Ms. Winters will have to go on a little journey while I complete my research," Merlin answered, "You will need to come with me so that I can continue training you."

Rachel only groaned, "I was afraid of that."

**To be Continued...**


	7. Other Adventures

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Battle of the Wolves".

Other Adventures

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**London**

Rachel gave a heavy sigh as she packed her suitcase inside the room that she had been given to stay in. She couldn't believe she was preparing to go off on a journey around the world to gather information about things that she had once considered myth. Of course her mind dwelled on the events of the month before and her condition. She was currently something she though only to be myth. That made her worry about the whole situation she was in.

Her greatest fear at the moment was that she would accidentally transform in front of a large group of people. And since she yet had no control over her change, that fear had not diminished. The mere appearance of the were that had attacked her earlier was enough to both anger and frighten her to the point of changing. Then after she had calmed down, she reverted to her human form. She was fortunate that only Arthur, Macbeth, and the gargoyle Chloe had seen all that. But the fact that New York was the first place that Merlin was deciding to visit made her extremely nervous. There were more people in New York then there were in London and thanks to news reports she knew there were people there who were not found of supernatural creatures.

Setting aside her feelings she shut her suitcase and began to carry it out into the hallway. She pulled out her cell phone as she did so, and called her apartment back in York. She figured she'd leave a message on the answering machine that she would be going on a rather extensive trip for the time being and would be unavailable and was surprised when Gwen actually answered the phone.

"Gwen? What are you doing home?" Rachel asked into her phone.

"Rachel!" Gwen answered, sounding very excited and happy, "It's great to hear from you. How are things?"

"About as fine as they're going to be," Rachel commented, "What are you doing at home? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Oh, I've been battling the flu for the past two days," Gwen sighed, and Rachel could hear the sound a nose being blown into a tissue, "So I'm sorry if I sound strange."

"Well, feel better soon," Rachel replied, "I'm just calling to let you know that I'm going to be going on a bit of a trip for a little while, so I'm not going to be in London."

"You helping Arthur now?" Gwen questioned.

"Not exactly," Rachel sighed, "They're concerned about some mystical prophecy thing, and Merlin needs to go around the world to research it, since he couldn't find the information he wanted here."

"You always were a bookworm," Gwen managed to chuckle.

"I'm not going because I'm fond of reading ancient books," Rachel answered firmly, "I'm going because I've developed this nasty habit of turning into a giant wolf creature three times a month and whenever I'm angry or frustrated about something."

Rachel swore she heard Gwen laugh.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gwen asked.

"I don't have full control yet," Rachel answered, "I need to go with Merlin so I can figure out how to control all of this while he does his research."

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked, "You sound frustrated."

"It is frustrating at times," Rachel answered, "I don't want to be a werewolf, but I'm stuck as one. I'm getting used to the werewolf stuff... a bit."

"So when are you coming home?" Gwen asked.

"When I can argue with you and not risk transforming," Rachel answered with a slight chuckle after hearing her sister laugh over the phone.

"Okay," Gwen answered, "take care and be careful."

"I will," Rachel answered.

She bumped into Merlin as she hung up her cellphone. The wizard was traveling much lighter than she was. She guessed that being a wizard had its advantages.

"Everything okay?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed, "I was just letting Gwen know that I'd be doing some traveling."

Merlin only sighed back.

"It's not your fault," Rachel sighed, "Being here has shown me that the world is much bigger than I thought it was. Granted, I love for my life to go back to the way it was, but then that can't happen now, can it?"

"No it can't," Merlin nodded, "you're being awfully big about all this."

"I think I'm getting used to being around you guys and the clan here," Rachel commented, and then chuckled, "I'm getting used to weirdness. Now, as soon as I can master my transformations, I'll be set."

"We should have plenty of time and space for you to practice," Merlin commented, "The person we'll be visiting in Manhattan is also used to rather 'strange' occurrences."

"How so?" Rachel asked.

"Researching 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' will require diving into some rather ancient texts," Merlin explained, "Most of these texts are also something you can't find in an everyday library."

"So, where are we going?" Rachel asked.

"We will be visiting a Mr. David Xanatos," Merlin explained, "Owner and CEO of Xanatos Enterprises and ally of the Manhattan Clan."

"He's allied with those gargoyles?" Rachel asked, "They're real?"

Merlin nodded, "Not to mention the fact that Mr. Xanatos has collected various ancient texts as a hobby of sorts, which will hopefully contain some information about 'Britain's Greatest Hour', or at least some clues to something that is connected to what we're looking for."

"He studies magic as a hobby?" Rachel asked.

"No, he collects the books as a hobby," Merlin corrected, "Probably something he can 'brag' about. The ownership of rarities is very intriguing to various people in high places. Many times for different reasons. The possession of the Holy Spear and other religious relics were important to the members of the First Crusade because of their believed spiritual importance. Various pieces of art and artifacts were taken out of Egypt and other parts of Africa and from India as souvenirs during Britain's imperial days. Mr. Xanatos just seems to be a continuation of that trend."

"Well, I'm sure this will be an interesting trip then," Rachel sighed.

Merlin nodded as the two began to go down the stairs to the first floor of the mansion.

"So, any reason why you're traveling so light?" Rachel asked, "No special potions or anything?"

"It's merely a research trip with some 'were training' for you," Merlin shrugged, "I shouldn't need special potions or anything of that nature. Or should I try and convince you that I've got my entire room packed in this bag?"

That made Rachel chuckle, "Glad to know an 'old' guy like you still watches cartoons."

"Well, like Macbeth has a habit of criticizing Shakespeare," Merlin sighed, "I've had the habit of looking at various pieces of the Arthurian Legend and the various movies and stories on the subject trying to see who has the most accurate version."

"Must have given you a headache," Rachel commented.

"Many of them did," Merlin shook his head, "Including one where Arthur battled a Roman Emperor trying to reconquer Britain. Rome 'granted' Britain independence in 410 AD. Arthur, however, didn't rise to the throne till nearly 500 AD. By then the Western Roman Empire had long since fallen and while it's continuation, the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, still existed and did reconquer some former Roman territory, they went no further north than northern Italy. Nowhere near Britain. The story makes the Romans look bad and it does not describe Arthur's actions accurately."

"Maybe you ought to write your own version, whenever you get the time," Rachel commented, "You'd know more than anyone."

"That might not be a bad idea," Merlin chuckled, "If only I could present some credible evidence that might make people believe me. I can't go around claiming I'm the wizard Merlin."

"Just use common sense," Rachel suggested, "If Rome fell in 410..."

"Rome fell in 476," Merlin corrected, "They granted Britain's independence in 410, and that is only because their armies left to fight the Germans on the continent."

"Either way, just use that as your facts," Rachel suggested, "Lots of people could figure that out."

"I'll focus on the main task at hand first," Merlin sighed in the end, "But thank you for the idea."

The two walked out into the hallway to find Macbeth waiting by the door. The medieval Scottish king remained silent as they approached the door.

"Thanks for driving us," Merlin commented to him.

"It is no problem," Macbeth sighed, "I'm surprised you didn't ask me to fly you there."

"You still have your teaching," Merlin answered, "And this will be more than a flight to New York and back. We could be gone awhile."

"Is Arthur coming?" Rachel asked.

"He's actually meeting with a client right now," Macbeth answered, "He won't be available to come with us."

Merlin nodded while Rachel seemed to look down and both then slowly followed Macbeth out. The immortal Scotsman's car was ready and waiting on the driveway as the two came out of the house.

"King to chauffer," Macbeth sighed as he got in behind the driver's seat, "It's depressing."

"It could be worse," Merlin reminded him.

Macbeth only sighed.

Inside the mansion's kitchen, Arthur was involved in a much more serious discussion.

"You say someone kidnapped your son?" Arthur asked, "Shouldn't this be something that you go to the police first with?"

"It normally would," a very nervous looking man commented, "But the whole situation is strange."

"I'm willing to work with 'strange' cases," Arthur pointed out to the man.

"I know, and the kidnappers did too," the man replied in a weak voice.

"Perhaps you could explain everything to me," Arthur commented, "Even this sounds strange to me."

"Well," the man began, "My son and I were walking down by the docks. Mostly so he could get a look at the river. He's always liked the river, any body of water, really. So we were down there. Then, just as we were getting ready to head back home, I'm knocked to the ground and my son is grabbed."

The man then paused for a moment before speaking again.

"I looked up shortly after I was knocked down," the man continued, "I saw that a group of six men had my son. They told me that I was to come to you and have you investigate the crime. They said that if I told the police they would kill my son and that they would know."

"That is certainly strange," Arthur sighed, "No criminal would ever demand who they want investigating their activity. They would prefer not to be investigated at all."

"It gets even weirder from there," the man spoke up in response to Arthur, "They even told me where they would be holding him."

"They told you where they're holding your son?" Arthur asked, not believing anything.

The man nodded, "They took him into the sewers nearby and told me that they would be at the end of a long straightaway tunnel from that site."

"This is most peculiar," Arthur mused to himself before asking a more important question, "Can you describe the kidnappers? Anything that might describe them?"

"I couldn't see their faces," the man answered, "They were all wearing masks, but the way they were dressed reminded me of a commando from the movies."

"How well were they armed?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing larger than a handgun, but all of them were pretty big guys," the man said weakly.

"Did they say anything about me going to the police?" Arthur asked.

"Why would you go to the police?" the man asked, "You know where they are and what's happened."

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "But that makes it sound like a trap to me. It sounds as if your son was not even their target. And it's still a crime, which is more of their field then mine."

"That's ridiculous," the man said with some degree of knowledge in his voice, "Why would my son, the victim of the crime, not be the target?"

"Because of the instructions they gave you," Arthur answered, "If your son was the target, why would they tell you to come to me and why would they tell you where they would be holding your son? I've known fathers in my time that would have skipped the first part and tried to rescue their son themselves if they knew where their son was taken and held. You see what I'm getting at?"

The man nodded, "It's certainly weird."

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "Which is why I'm asking if they said anything about me going to the police?"

"I don't remember them saying anything," the man responded, "But I think they'd kill him if the police were contacted, regardless of who informs them."

Arthur sighed, "I'll do my best to recover your son, but I can't do it now. I will need help in order to make this mission successful, and that help is not currently available."

"Are they connected to the police?" the man asked nervously.

"No," Arthur assured him, "But I still think someone has set a trap for me and I will need help to deal with problem. The help I will get is not from the police, but from someone who can surely deal with any difficulties if there is an ambush."

The man nodded weakly, "Okay then."

"The last thing that remains is you showing me where the sewer entrance that they used was," Arthur explained.

**London Airport**

The ride to the airport had largely been uneventful. It was quiet and calm with no disturbances whatsoever. Once it was their turn to board the airplane, Merlin turned to give some last minute instructions to Macbeth.

"Hopefully we're not gone too long," Merlin commented, "But you can never tell with these things. We'll call to let you know our progress as we go."

"How are we to contact you if we should ever need help?" Macbeth asked.

"I have my cellphone with me, somewhere," Rachel answered and began to look through her bags, "But I have it off right now. You can't use them when you're on an airplane."

Rachel then dug a small notepad out and scribbled down her cellphone number.

"There," Rachel answered, "That'd probably come in handy if we end up in some place without a phone."

Macbeth nodded and took the scrap of paper.

"Have a good journey," Macbeth said to them as they headed down the tunnel.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Merlin answered.

Macbeth nodded and slowly began to walk back toward the air port's exits and eventually toward his car. What the medieval Scottish king did not see was the pair of eyes that silently observed him from a corner of the airport. They watched the man until he disappeared down an escalator before anything more was done.

Once Macbeth was well out of earshot, but still within the man's sight, he pulled out his own cellphone and dialed a number.

"Agent Anglo?" the man spoke into his phone, "This is broadsword. Merlin and the female were have left London on a plane destined for New York."

"What of Arthur?" Anglo questioned over the phone, "Irons reported that Pendragon was with the female were when our were tried and failed again."

"Pendragon was not present," Broadsword answered, "Macbeth was their escort."

"Keep tabs on him," Anglo ordered, "Macbeth may become more involved in Pendragon's actions."

"Yes, sir," Broadsword answered.

**Sewer**

The small boy sat on a small ledge with tears in his eyes and fearing for his life. He was sure he was in trouble with father for all this. If he hadn't begged to see the river, this wouldn't happened.

"Please let me go," the boy pleaded.

"We can't," one of his captors said, "Not until the target arrives."

"Please," the boy begged, "I haven't done anything bad."

"I'm sure you haven't," the captor answered, "but we have orders. You don't go free until arrives."

"I need to go to the bathroom," the boy said weakly.

"Great," another of the captors groaned.

**Mansion, Dusk**

Griff and the rest of the London clan came downstairs to find Arthur and Merlin in a deep discussion about something that sounded like a kidnapping.

"What's going on?" Griff asked.

"I've received a rather unusual case," Arthur answered, "Apparently sometime this morning; a group of mercenaries kidnapped a boy from his father while they were walking by the river."

"That's horrible!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Why didn't he go to the police with the report?" Una asked.

"That's where the case begins to get strange," Arthur sighed, "Apparently the kidnappers know who I am and have reported that they will kill the child if the father goes to the police or went to anyone but myself."

Arthur was quiet for a moment before he continued.

"They also gave the man the location of where they're holding the child," Arthur finished.

"It sounds like trap to me," Julia commented, "Whoever is behind this has targeted you personally, and if they're giving you the location, that means they're prepared for you to attack them there."

"I thought so too," Arthur nodded, "And whoever behind it is smart as well. They know that we can't let some innocent child be left in the hands of kidnappers."

"The real question is 'who' is doing this," Macbeth commented, "From what Arthur explained to me, there is no information as to who the kidnappers are."

"I'd tend to lean toward the Illuminati," Griff commented with a firm sound of determination in his voice, "They've given us plenty of trouble recently."

"Right, but with no evidence, that's only a theory," Arthur commented.

"Theory or not," Leo commented, "The boy will need rescuing. Regardless of who did it."

Arthur nodded, "That's actually why I'm still here. I intend to rescue him, but since this could be a trap, I believe I will need help in the rescue operation."

"We would be quite willing, sir," Lancelot said eagerly as he and Gawain stepped forward.

Arthur looked to Griff for a moment, not saying anything. Lancelot and Gawain had proven themselves to Griff and the rest of the London clan that they were good at running the nightly patrols and handled dealing with the various thugs that roamed the streets even better. The Once and Future King, however, was looking more towards having Griff with him. The griffon-like gargoyle knew London better and he was concerned that if they ended up in a battle underground, Griff would know the system better.

"They should do fine," Griff commented, "If you're going down there to rescue the kid, I don't think you'll need some expert guide on London's sewers. And even if you did, Leo, Una, and I never explored them."

"And I'm glad we didn't," Una commented as she sat down with her breakfast, "It always was filthy down there."

"Okay," Arthur nodded and turned to Lancelot and Gawain, "We'll head down there after you've had a breakfast. The father showed me where the entrance we need to go to and the kidnappers provided him with the instructions to where they're holding the kid."

"Right," Lancelot and Gawain said eagerly and rushed to get their own breakfasts.

The rest of the London clan took a somewhat slower pace.

**The Docks**

Half an hour later Arthur slowly walked out to the area that his client had shown him earlier in the day. It was a small manhole that led down to an underground drainage tunnel, which channeled rain water away from the city and toward the Thames. Once he got to the manhole he stood quietly and waited for Lancelot and Gawain to spot him and land. The two Avalon arrivals landed quietly stood at attention.

"My client told me that there is a long straight tunnel that we need to follow," Arthur instructed, "The boy and the kidnappers are waiting at the end of the tunnel. I will lead to get the boy."

"We'll take care of the kidnappers," Lancelot said boldly.

"Yes, and if it's a trap, you two are to hold off the others long enough for me to get the boy out of there," Arthur answered, and lifted the manhole cover, "It is also important that both of you try your best to keep yourself out of the boy's sight. I didn't tell my client that my help in rescuing his son would be two gargoyles. I merely told him that I would have help. And given the problems that Goliath's clan has gone through, the last thing we need is for a child to blab that there are gargoyles in London. We can't tell what the reaction would be."

"Of course sir," Gawain nodded, "We'll be careful."

While the three then began to descend down the ladder into to sewers below, a man carefully hidden on the roof of a nearby warehouse sat up and continued to look at the spot where Arthur had been a few minutes ago. After a few seconds he pulled out his cellphone.

"Agent Anglo, this is Irons," Jeremy reported into his phone once he got an answer, "Pendragon has taken the bait but he has taken two gargoyles with him."

"Is he going to rescue the kid?" Anglo asked over the phone.

"I would assume so," Jeremy answered, "They went down the sewer access that our agents told the father to tell Pendragon."

Jeremy heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone, knowing that Anglo was not entirely pleased with the report.

"Call off part two of the operation," Anglo ordered, "The Council doesn't want the London gargoyles revealed to the world. Their experiment with the Quarrymen in Manhattan proved to be a disaster. Hopefully our little 'kidnapping' team can handle one medieval king and two gargoyles."

"Of course, sir," Jeremy answered.

"Meanwhile, how fares the boy?" Anglo answered.

"As ordered, no harm has come to him," Jeremy answered, "The team has even seen to his comfort as much as possible, including several trips to a restroom."

"Good," Anglo answered and hung up.

Anglo then made his next call to carry out Anglo's latest orders.

Arthur, Lancelot, and Gawain slowly made their way up the long tunnel they had entered after descending town the ladder. Strangely the passage was brightly lit. Arthur did not need the flashlight he had brought with him. They carefully made their way forward, Arthur walking down a surprisingly dry path straight down the middle while Lancelot and Gawain tired their best to keep themselves out of sight. Eventually they came close to the end of the tunnel and Arthur saw a small boy sitting down and tied to a chair.

"Help me!" the boy screamed.

"Hold on," Arthur answered and stepped forward quickly and approached the boy.

As Arthur came closer he found the boy had been blindfolded. He stepped behind the chair, and drew Excalibur, preparing to cut the ropes. Lancelot and Gawain were busy looking for some place to hide themselves and still keep themselves ready should the trap be sprung on them. Just as Arthur prepared to cut the first rope, a voice spoke up from two hallways that Arthur had passed in route to the boy.

"Not so fast, Pendragon."

Arthur looked up to see six men standing in one hallway and another five standing at the opening to another. All of them were armed with knives. Lancelot and Gawain moved to block each group.

"You're not going to be able to rescue this kid that easy,"the leader threatened, "Get them!"

All of the men rushed forward. Lancelot charged the group coming from the north while Gawain charged the leader's group coming from the south. Both gargoyles managed to keep several of commando dressed men busy, but there were at least four commandos charging at Arthur and the boy. Using the side of Excalibur he knocked the first of the four to the ground and swung a left cross to knock the other man down. Neither man was knocked out, but they were for the moment, taken out of the fight. Arthur was forced to duck under a punch thrown by the third attacker and dodge a knife slash by the fourth.

"Why did you kidnap this boy?" Arthur demanded as he brought Excalibur to block a knife slash by the third attacker.

The knife met the enchanted sword with a loud clang and Arthur quickly kicked the man to make the fight more manageable. He dodged the fourth man's second attempt to slash him with his knife and then clubbed the man with Excalibur's handle. The man fell down unconscious.

"Why are you after me?" Arthur demanded again.

"Pride," the third attacker countered, "We know a great deal about you Arthur Pendragon. We'll have quite the reputation if we take you out."

Arthur glanced back to see the first and second attackers coming at him once more. He sidestepped and tripped the second, who ended up stumbling into the third, sending both to the ground. Arthur ended up in a shoving match with the first attacker after this, and he pushed the commando against a wall and then punched him in the face, this time knocking him out.

"Your reputation is not going to go far," Arthur commented as he turned to face his remaining two attackers.

"Come on," the third said, "He can't take both of us together. We attack simultaneously instead of in waves."

The second nodded, but as they prepared to advance, they felt two strong hands grab them from behind and lift them up. They turned to see that the silver and red gargoyle that Arthur had brought with him had finished off the group of commandos that had attacked him. Arthur saw that Lancelot did take a few knife slashes, which would require stone sleep to cure, but the gargoyle didn't look to be in too bad a shape.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do what you're intending to do," Lancelot said slowly and then slammed the two men's heads together.

The two men dropped to the ground unconscious and Lancelot looked over to see that Gawain was just finishing up with the group that had attacked him.

"Are you okay, Arthur?" Lancelot asked a he approached Arthur.

"Fine," Arthur sighed, "You look a little worse for wear though."

"Not all of us fight with a sword," Lancelot sighed, "I'll be fine. This is nothing a day in stone won't handle."

"What do you want done with the kidnappers?" Gawain asked.

"Take them back up to the ground level," Arthur instructed and make sure they're secured. I'll call the police to come pick them up after I've released the boy."

"Right," Gawain and Lancelot nodded in unison and began carrying off the unconscious commandos.

Arthur meanwhile sheathed Excalibur and decided to try and until the knots that the commandos had tied the ropes that were holding the boy to the chair, so that Lancelot and Gawain would have time to get all the commandos dealt with. It proved successful as both Lancelot and Gawain seemed eager to do well by Arthur and hurried about getting the commandos removed. Arthur was getting to the final knot as Gawain and Lancelot returned after removing the last group of commandos.

"What now, sir?" Lancelot asked.

"You can go back to the mansion for now," Arthur answered, "I need to get the boy home to his father."

The two gargoyles nodded and left. Arthur managed to get the last knot undone as the two gargoyles disappeared from view.

"Who are you?" the boy asked as he pulled off his own blindfold once free.

"My name is Arthur Dragon," Arthur said slowly, "I've come to rescue you and return you to your father. Are you alright?"

The boy looked himself over and found nothing wrong.

"Yes," the boy answered, "Did my dad send you?"

"In a way yes," Arthur answered, "I'm a private investigator and your father came to me and asked me to take the case."

Arthur slowly led the boy back down the lit tunnel and up the ladder. The boy asked him questions as they went and the 'Once and Future King' did his best to answer every question that the boy asked.

**Elsewhere**

Jeremy Irons slowly walked into Agent Anglo's office. He noticed the frustrated look on the Illuminati officer's face.

"I take it that Arthur and his companions defeated the commandos?" Anglo asked.

"Yes," Jeremy sighed, "I left after the police finished rounding them up."

"We were supposed to expose Arthur as the kidnapper of the boy," Anglo growled, mostly to himself, "But he had to bring his stupid gargoyles with him."

Jeremy said nothing, "We can find other ways to expose him as 'evil' without drawing the gargoyles into it."

Anglo shook his head, "No. He knighted one gargoyle. It is unlikely that he'd ever put himself in a situation where he'd be without them."

"They weren't with him when we sent the were after Ms. Winters," Jeremy pointed out, "Macbeth and his gargoyle ally arrived later."

"One incident," Anglo countered, "And Arthur wasn't our target that night."

"Surely there's a way, sir," Jeremy sighed.

"There is," Anglo answered, "But it's not a option that we have been given. It'd raise too much destruction anyway."

Jeremy sat down quietly.

"We're to keep observing Arthur," Anglo ordered, "And we will continue to try and deal with him. Hopefully we can were him down to the point where he will be defeated."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy nodded.

**Mansion**

Arthur returned to the mansion feeling slightly better having rescued the boy. The father was all too happy to pay the fee. It pleased Arthur to see the boy reunited with his father. He found much of the clan had returned to the mansion and were listening to Lancelot and Gawain's recount of the rescue mission.

"I take it everything went well then, right?" Chloe asked as Arthur entered the kitchen.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "The boy has been rescued and Lancelot and Gawain were most valiant in fighting the boy's kidnappers."

The two males beamed with pride.

"In fact, I think that such bravery is deserving of a proper reward," Arthur answered and drew Excalibur and touched Lancelot and Gawain on the shoulders with it, "I dub the, Sirs Gawain and Lancelot II or the revived..."

Arthur looked over at the kitchen table and then remembered that it was rectangular, not circular.

"Rectangle table," Arthur finished, sounding slightly defeated.

"Yes!" Gawain and Lancelot cheered.

Guinevere smiled politely, but said nothing to either male.

"We can order a 'round' table for you if you desire it," Leo offered, "It would fit your tradition. Or at least your legend."

"That would be something to think about," Arthur commented with a slight laugh.

**The End**


	8. Return of the Imitators

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Other Adventures".

Return of the Imitators

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London Street**

Arthur cautiously followed his latest suspect. Like most of the cases he had received, it was to deal with a suspected cheating spouse. Arthur still thought these cases were not fitting for a man of honor, but he had managed to accept that it was a job he needed to do. This case, so far, was stranger than the other cases that had involved adulterous acts. One was that the client who had hired him seemed to be overly nervous about almost anything and two, her husband didn't seem to be very different. Every few seconds the man would turn and Arthur was forced to duck or pick up his pace to appear like he was merely walking in the same direction. At the same time the places he stopped at seemed to be rather innocent. Various shops along small streets throughout London.

The man turned his head to look back and Arthur just barely managed to slip into an alley without being seen by anyone to avoid detection. He later peaked out to see where his suspect had gone, and found that he had gone into a small bakery to take care of some errand.

"This has to be the strangest 'simple' case I've had," Arthur quietly grumbled to himself.

Above him Griff and Octavia landed on the roof of the building Arthur was standing near. Both gargoyles looked down to observe Arthur's observing of his suspect. Their patrol had been rather quiet and they were now taking a brief break.

"Dealing with another cheating husband I see," Griff commented as he saw what Arthur was doing.

"I still find it disturbing that there are some humans who are so unfaithful to their mates," Octavia answered.

Griff placed a hand on the Roman gargoyle's shoulder, "I know, and Arthur feels the same way. He actually isn't too fond of the job itself as well."

Octavia nodded, "Yes, he's upset about 'spying' on people."

Griff was about to say something when a powerful electric blast came from nowhere and knocked the griffon-like gargoyle out. Octavia turned to watch Griff slump into her arms, but couldn't do anything to deal with whoever attacked the male as another electric blast came from behind her and knocked the female Roman gargoyle out. On the ground the sound of flying electricity made Arthur pause.

"Has a wire gone out somewhere?" Arthur wondered to himself as he took his attention off of his suspect and turned toward where he had heard the noise.

Arthur didn't get a chance to find out what had made the noise. Just as he had turned around, a fist came flying at his face and knocked the 'once and future' king out.

Octavia woke up very slowly hours later. She saw that Griff was also beginning to wake up again as well.

"Ungh, what hit me?" Octavia commented as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Felt like electricity," Griff answered, "But I don't know exactly."

"Why did they just leave us here?" Octavia wondered, "Whoever attacked us must have had a reason."

That made Griff pause. They had clearly been attacked by someone, but both of them had not been taken prisoner or killed. They had been left alone and unconscious on the rooftop. He glanced toward the east and saw that the sun was close to rising.

"I don't know," Griff answered, "but right now, we should return to the mansion. Perhaps the others might have some ideas."

Octavia nodded and prepared to leave with Griff when something caught her eye. It was a sheet of paper, held down by a brick. She slowly approached it and picked up the piece of paper. Her eyes widened when she saw what was written on it.

"What is it?" Griff asked.

Octavia only handed him the note. Griff was even more shocked by the words that were written.

"We need to get back to the mansion now," Griff said urgently, "Apparently we weren't the intended target!"

**Warehouse**

Arthur was very groggy as he managed to slowly open his eyes. They had not opened far when he heard a voice speak to him.

"Ah, you're awake," Lucius's voice commented to him, "Good."

"Lucius?" Arthur demanded, "What do you want now?"

"You remember me?" Lucius questioned.

"I can recognize your voice," Arthur answered as if talking to someone of no intelligence, "It's a bit rougher then the last time I saw you, but I can still tell it's you."

"That's quite the memory you have if you can remember what my voice sounds like," Lucius commented humorously, "but I doubt you would recognize my appearance."

Arthur silently guessed that Lucius was referring to his mutation and knew that the 'man' was going to try and frighten him into being docile. He thanked Goliath's clan for their telephone call that reported their recent fights with Lucius and his followers. He finally managed to open his eyes all the way when he saw a mutate that resembled and African Wild Dog standing before him, looking triumphant. Arthur maintained his cool, knowing that shock had to be one of Lucius's weapons.

"So that's what you've been mutated into," Arthur commented, "Not exactly Roman, you know."

Lucius gasped. He hadn't expected Arthur to react so calmly to the fact that he had been mutated. He had hoped that his appearance would frighten the 'once and future' king. Instead Arthur had reacted calmly, almost as if he already knew.

"How did you...?" Lucius began.

"I heard from some friends that you had caused some trouble in New York," Arthur answered, "still defeated, I see."

Lucius growled. He didn't know or think that Goliath's clan had any relations with Arthur other then the brief period during the Second Unseelie War. It turns out that that was a poor assumption.

"I am not defeated," Lucius growled.

"You lost three of your followers," Arthur answered, "And you didn't have many to begin with."

"I've still captured you, and left your gargoyle friends unconscious," Lucius gloated.

"What?" Arthur demanded.

"Oh, don't worry," Lucius chuckled, "They'll be fine, for now. Right now they should be reporting to their clan that you've been kidnapped. Then, they'll get very emotionally involved in rescuing you and will not be able to adequately perform the rescue operation."

"You underestimate them," Arthur warned, "You'll only fail again."

"No I won't," Lucius growled back, "This time I will succeed."

"You haven't succeeded before," Arthur pointed out.

"Only because my followers weren't fully trained and usually outnumbered," Lucius growled back, grabbing Arthur by the shirt, "but now they are ready, and your 'friends' will be defeated in their rescue attempt. Then nothing will stand in my way of establishing the Terran Empire."

"And how do you intend to rule the world when you're dog-man with wings?" Arthur questioned, "And with such a small following. You'd be slaughtered by squad of well armed infantryman in the armies of today."

"I will find a way," Lucius answered, "But I will deal with that once I've removed you from this life."

Arthur sat silently while Lucius continued to gloat about his victory. Neither noticed that a small robotic device flew out of a nearby window and off into the soon to be brightening sky.

**Mansion**

Macbeth sighed heavily as he read the words that were written on the sheet of paper that Griff and Octavia handed him. The note read, 'We have Pendragon in a warehouse on the west side'.

"We've got to rescue him," Lancelot urged.

"That I'd presume would be a given," Macbeth answered, "The real question to ask is who is 'we'? I'd like to know who we will be fighting."

"It has to be the Illuminati," Guinevere commented, "They've been causing us the most trouble lately."

"Whoever attacked us used electricity," Octavia pointed out, "I very much doubt it was the Illuminati."

Griff nodded in agreement, "I think it was a mutate actually."

"A mutate?" Leo asked, "They only live in Manhattan."

"Some could have moved here," Griff pointed out, "Remember that Goliath's clan called here a while back and told us about their encounters with Lucius. He's been mutated."

"But from what you all told us, Lucius was never that competent a leader or skilled a warrior," Gawain argued.

"Anyone can be dangerous when you have surprise on your side," Octavia answered with Julia nodding in agreement.

"But we haven't heard from Lucius in a while," Chloe commented, "And subtle ambushes were never his thing. I agree with Guinevere, this has to be the work of the Illuminati."

"How do you explain the electricity then?" Griff asked.

"Macbeth has his electric blasters," Chloe commented, "surely the Illuminati has similar weapons."

"They probably do," Macbeth sighed, "but my blasters can not fire a charge strong enough to knock out a full grown gargoyle in one shot. Your species's endurance in any fight is very commendable. They could knock out a human, but not a gargoyle. Not in one shot anyway."

"Why is that?" Lancelot asked, "Those blasts still hurt when the Archmage had you and Demona attack Avalon."

"Electric blasters can only fire so much current safely," Macbeth answered, "Any more then that, and the gun itself will explode. That's why I think that Griff and Octavia's suggestion that it is a mutate that committed the act. They would have the ability to use more electric power then my blasters could with risk to themselves."

"It could have been a sorcerer as well," Una spoke up, "Magic, when properly used, can be almost as powerful as anything the modern world has produced. But I don't think there is anyone with that kind of skill after us right now. The Unseelies are hiding, Demona has no particular interest in London, and from what Wedrington told us, is reforming, and Merlin is our ally. The theory that it was a mutate is the most likely."

"This still doesn't answer the question as to where Arthur is," Gawain pointed out, "Does the note say anything specific about where they have him?"

"No," Macbeth answered, "Only that they're in the western part of London."

"We must search then," Lancelot stated.

"No," Griff answered, "It's too close to dawn now, and London is a big city. Even if we divided it up, it would take a while to search each sector. Besides we have something, or someone, that could get us Arthur's location much easier, regardless of what is on that note."

"What is that?" Lancelot asked.

"Griff is referring to me in his own way," Una spoke up, "We can find Arthur with a simple tracking spell. It will take me a little while to get everything ready tomorrow evening, but it will be able to lead us directly to Arthur."

The others quickly voiced their agreement to the plan, but couldn't say more as the sun rose and all the gargoyles went to sleep for the day. Macbeth meanwhile set about preparing for his day of teaching and what was sure to be a very hectic night to come.

**Elsewhere**

Agent Anglo watched the small video screen that Jeremy Irons had placed before him. His face showed looks of both interest and shock.

"Has one or both of the Sevariuses come to London?" Anglo asked.

"According to all our sources, Alex Sevarius, the clone, is employed by Maddox Technologies," Jeremy answered, "And Anton has apparently disappeared. It could be possible that he is hear, but that doesn't seem likely."

"Arthur is talking to a mutate, Irons," Anglo said firmly, "Who created the mutate formula?"

"Anton Sevarius, under the direction of David Xanatos," Jeremy answered.

"Is Anton Sevarius in London?" Anglo asked.

"I can not be sure," Jeremy answered, "It is possible."

"We will need to keep our eyes peeled for any further activity that would indicate that the scientist is here," Anglo answered.

"I am again going to voice my opinion that Sevarius is not likely to be here," Jeremy answered, "He has seemed to be more interested in the Manhattan Clan then anything else."

"Yes," Anglo nodded, "But that doesn't rule out that he's come here."

"I find it interesting though that this mutate seems to have the same beef with Pendragon that we do," Jeremy commented, "Perhaps we should just let his plot go and see what happens."

Anglo paused to think for a moment and looked down at the screen again. After a few moments later, he looked up again at Jeremy with an idea in his head.

"That could be an option," Anglo commented, "Or we could make direct contact with this 'Lucius'. Perhaps we could get him and his followers to leave Sevarius and join us."

"Join us, sir?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," Anglo nodded, "We've lost that idiotic werewolf, so we need some agent that can risk a direct one on one battle with a gargoyle, and I doubt the Council is going to go to Xanatos Enterprises to have him build something to capture gargoyles. Not now, anyway."

"He's wanting to rule the world, sir," Jeremy answered, "I doubt that he would be easy to control."

"We have the devices to insure that they are controllable," Anglo answered, "And that will only be speculation for the moment. I will have to contact the Council before anything can be finalized. For now, keep observing the situation."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.

**Warehouse**

Arthur worked to try and work his hands out of the ropes that Lucius's mutates had tied him in. After Lucius had gotten tired of arguing with him, he had moved off to a different part of the warehouse, leaving two mutates guarding him. He had hoped that they would give him the lack of attention necessary to escape from his confinement, but Lucius had trained them to be good guards and they paid very good attention. He decided to see if he could try to get Lucius's followers to go against one another. The distraction might allow him to escape.

"May I ask a question?" Arthur asked.

The first shrugged, which gave Arthur the go ahead.

"Why do you serve Lucius?" Arthur asked.

"What?" the mutate asked back.

"Why do you serve Lucius?" Arthur asked again.

The first mutate looked at the second and then commented, "You have to be the strangest prisoner ever. You don't ask those questions of your captors."

"I'm only curious," Arthur answered.

The first mutate shrugged and then said, "Well, it beats being homeless."

"There are other options besides serving a man wanting to conquer the world," Arthur pointed out.

"True, but one can not glide or shot lightning bolts in those other options," the second mutate spoke up, "Wouldn't you want to be able to fly and shoot lightning bolts."

"I wouldn't want to give up my humanity to gain that ability," Arthur replied.

The two mutates only shrugged.

"You don't mean to be saying that you enjoy serving Lucius?" Arthur asked.

"It's better then being homeless," the first mutate answered, "and we can do things that we couldn't do before."

Arthur sighed, "But why do you serve Lucius? He hasn't won a battle he's ever engaged."

"He's better then anyone else who is available to us," the first commented.

"I don't know," the second said and he brought his had up to his chin, "We took some pretty bad beatings from the Manhattan gargoyles. Maybe we ought to find someone besides Lucius."

"So who is going to replace him?" the first asked, "I certainly don't want to be the leader."

"I don't want to be the leader either," the second replied, "Maybe one of the others would be…"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!?" Lucius roared as he stormed up, "Can't you see what he's doing? He's trying to turn you against me!"  
"And I nearly succeeded," Arthur commented.

Lucius hit Arthur with a weak electric blast.

"Don't do that again," Lucius growled, "You've lost and I hold you prisoner. You will be silent. If you make one more noise, I will allow them to give you more shockings."

Lucius then turned to the other two mutates, "He is not allowed to speak. If he so much as makes a noise he is to be given an electric shock."

**Mansion**

Most of the clan gathered on the roof of the mansion shortly after dusk to find Macbeth waiting on his sky-cycle.

"We're ready," Lancelot announced.

"Very good," Macbeth answered, "We must still wait for Una to arrive with the ingredients for her spell."

They had to wait a few minutes for Una to arrive with a few small paper bags and what appeared to be one of Arthur's sweaters. She set quickly to work while the others watched silently. After a few moments, Una began chanting in Latin, and once she had finished there was a brilliant flash of light. Once the light had faded, a small orb, no bigger in size then a golf ball hovered right above Arthur's sweater.

"This orb will lead us directly to Arthur," Una explained, "I've also altered the spell so that it will wait until Macbeth is ready and so that it will not leave those of us without an engine behind."

"Good job," the group gave their combined praise for Una's work and then moved to a position where they would be ready to go.

The orb slowly took off once Macbeth started his sky-cycle, and the group began to follow it through the air.

"Anything happen during the day?" Griff asked as they went.

"Merlin called," Macbeth answered, "He and Rachel are of investigate something in either Montana or Canada."

"Has he found anything more about 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need'?" Julia asked.

"If he has, he didn't say it to me," Macbeth answered.

"I just hope we can get to Arthur in time," Guinevere commented.

"I'm sure he's fine at the moment," Octavia answered the Avalon female, "They wouldn't leave us a note saying that they have him if they only wanted to kill him."

"Which means we must all be careful," Macbeth instructed, "They are waiting for us to charge in without a plan in an attempt to rescue Arthur."

"Do you have a plan Mr. Macbeth?" Lancelot asked.

"Not as yet," Macbeth answered, "We need to see specifically where they're holding him, first."

It took roughly half an hour for the group to arrive on the roof of a building opposite a warehouse. The orb continued on and hovered just over the top of the warehouse and then flew down through the roof.

"You were right about it being mutates that committed this act," Julia exclaimed, "Look!"

The group looked forward to see two mutates standing guard on the roof of the warehouse. Thankfully, both appeared to be looking in the opposite direction at the moment, allowing the rescue party to move to a position where they would be out of sight.

"I thought they'd have more guards," Griff commented quietly.

"I assumed so as well, the rest are likely to be inside the warehouse," Macbeth replied and turned to Una, "Do you have any spell that could deal with those two on the roof in a quiet manner so that we can get in?"

"I do, but I will need to get closer," Una answered and peered around the corner.

The two mutates were not looking in the same direction as before, but the still were not looking in the rescue party's direction. Una took the opportunity to make a quick dive and glide across the space between the warehouse and the building that the others were on. Quickly, she pulled out a small charm that she used as a conduit to cast her spells and prepared to cast a spell on the two guards before they could turn around and warn the rest of their group. They turned just as she began speaking.

"Dormite, hostes mei ubi statis!" Una spoke clearly as the two mutates gave a gasp of shock at seeing a gargoyle on the same roof as them.

The two mutates quickly fell unconscious while Una turned and gestured for the others to move to the warehouse roof.

"How long will they be out?" Chloe asked as the rest of the group arrived.

"A few hours," Una answered, "we should have plenty of time."

Macbeth meanwhile looked down through one of the windows to scan the warehouse's interior. Inside he saw seven scattered mutates performing various basic tasks. Two were guarding Arthur, and one seemed to be doing nothing.

"Griff and I will deal with rescuing Arthur and dealing with the 'leader', which I'm guessing is the one that looks like an African Wild Dog," Macbeth announced, "the rest of you are to spread out so that they can not converge on any one group."

The others nodded and moved toward a position where they could jump through one of the windows. Griff grabbed hold of Macbeth.

"I doubt you can glide or fly without that cycle of yours," Griff commented.

Macbeth only nodded. Once ready the group dove through the windows, sending glass shards flying everywhere. Griff dove directly toward the two mutates that were directly guarding Arthur while Macbeth fired blasts from his electric blasters. His shots took both mutates to their knees while Griff landed a strong punch on one as soon as he landed. The other attempted to fire an electric blast back at his attackers when Macbeth hit him with another blast from his own blasters. That blast sent the mutate flying into a pile of boxes. Griff and Macbeth were about to turn to Arthur when a powerful electric blast hit them in the back, knocking them to the ground.

"NO!" Lucius roared, "You will not deny me my triumph!"

Chloe and Gawain barreled into a mutate working near some large crates and knocked him into it, shattering several of the crates. The mutate fired off an electric blast that knocked Gawain back a few steps as soon as it recovered. It tried to fire a second blast at Chloe, but wasn't fast enough to be kneed in the gut and clubbed over the head with both fists. That, successfully knocked the mutate out.

"You okay?" Chloe asked, turning to Gawain.

Gawain nodded, "He didn't hit me that hard."

"Come on," Chloe urged, "Let's go help Macbeth and Griff."

Una and Leo dove after two that looked as if they were trying to fashion old support bars into makeshift spears to throw at opponents. They threw electric blasts at the two gargoyles, but both were easily able to dodge the mutates's attacks. Leo managed to land a punch on as he came in for a landing, knocking the mutate off his feet. The other charged him in an attempt to drive Leo off, but Una landed on his back and quickly cast her sleeping spell once more. Both mutates were quickly out cold.

Julia and Octavia's opponent didn't put up much of a fight to the two Roman gargoyles. Both had the element of surprise to knock him to the ground before he had a chance to do anything, and even after hitting Octavia with an electric blast, it was not enough to stop Julia from knocking him out with one punch.

The mutate that Lancelot and Guinevere went after reacted much quicker then the others. He stood his ground and hit Guinevere with an electric blast, knocking the white female back. Lancelot pressed on to try and get close to the mutate. It dodged Lancelot's attack and fired an electric blast that sent him flying into the wall. This, however, distracted the mutate from Guinevere who had recovered from the earlier attack. Guinevere, seeing that the mutate was distracted lunged forward and raked her talons across the mutate's back. It screamed with pain and dropped the ground. Guinevere then clubbed the mutate upside the head with both fists.

"Good job," Lancelot congratulated the female.

Guinevere gave a triumphant smile, "Thanks, let's go help the others."

Lucius fired to rapid electric blasts at Macbeth and Griff as they realized who had attacked them. Both blasts were off target, and narrowly missed hitting Arthur behind Macbeth and Griff.

"You will not deprive me of my victory!" Lucius roared again.

"Your aim is as desperate as your tone," Macbeth answered back, hitting him with a shot from his electric blasters.

The shot knocked the mutate leader to ground, but didn't knock him out. Griff then lunged forward and grabbed Lucius by the collar and threw him into a nearby wall. Lucius hit the wall hard and once he finally landed on the ground, he was out cold.

"Apparently mutation has not improved his skills any," Griff commented with a chuckle as the rest of the rescue party began to arrive.

"Thank you," Arthur said plainly as Macbeth undid the ropes that held him down with a knife.

The others nodded. Chloe turned her head to the unconscious mutates that lay throughout the warehouse, including Lucius.

"Did you have your sword with you when they kidnapped you?" Chloe asked.

"Thankfully no," Arthur commented, "Excalibur wasn't needed to follow a suspect, and given the changes that occurred in the world, I felt it would be safer in this instance to leave the sword at the mansion."

"Which is a good," Julia commented, "What should be done with the mutates?"

Arthur looked at Macbeth, who only sighed.

"I don't think we can do anything," Arthur slowly sighed, "While we have plenty of rooms in the mansion that we could use as containment cells, we do not have equipment that could prevent them from escaping, and with Merlin gone, any attempt to use magic would overtax Una."

"Could you find a spell that could restrain them?" Leo asked his mate.

"Only for a short time, and I would be exhausted after performing the spell for the first mutate," Una answered, "I hate to admit it, but I'm afraid that we will have to let them be for now."

Lancelot and Gawain looked ready to protest, but Julia interjected before either could speak.

"At least we know they are here now," Julia commented, "They will not be able to pull this stunt off again."

"We'll just have to leave it at that then," Arthur sighed.

The others nodded as the group then prepared to depart.

**The Next Day**

Arthur sat quietly in an easy chair, trying to relax after dealing with Lucius's return to London. He knew he still had work for his client to do, but he assumed that one day off wouldn't hurt. Especially since many of these cases took several days to truly solve unless he got lucky. Rest and relaxation were the best thing for him at the moment, so he was taking the day off. The ringing of the doorbell prevented him from getting truly comfortable, however, and he was soon slowly walking to answer the door. He found that it was the client who had hired him a few days before.

"Mr. Dragon?" the woman asked nervously for a moment, fingering her purse, "May I come in?"  
Arthur slowly nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to enter.

"Oh, Mr. Dragon, I'm afraid there's been a tremendous mistake made," the woman then said very quickly and in a nervous manner.

"Mistake?" Arthur asked, knowing he didn't make a mistake, "I followed the man on the picture you gave me."

"Oh no," the woman said quickly, "The mistake was not on your part, it was on mine."

"On yours?" Arthur asked, now becoming curious.

"Yes, you see, it was my birthday last night, and he threw a big party for me," the woman began to explain, "But I didn't know about it, he'd kept it secret, to surprise me, you see, and when I got nervous about him cavorting with other women, it turns out he was only preparing for the party."

"So that's why every place he stopped at seemed to be a basic shop," Arthur thought to himself before speaking, "Well, anyone would be nervous when people keep secrets."

"Maybe, but I should have trusted him more," the woman responded, "and I'm afraid I've wasted your time."

Before Arthur could speak she pulled out some money from her purse and handed it to him.

"There, that should take care of everything," the woman finished, "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

The woman then left in quite the hurry. Arthur was meanwhile left standing near the entryway, holding the money he had been given with a rather confused look on his face as the door shut. After a few moments he shook his head and began to walk back toward the room he was in earlier.

"This has been the strangest case I've ever had," Arthur mumbled to himself.

**Elsewhere**

"The mutates and their leader have left the warehouse they were using recently," Jeremy Irons reported, "I had a crew investigate the warehouse, and there was no sign that Sevarius was there at anytime."

Anglo nodded, "I take it the London gargoyles were able to rescue their captive leader?"

"Yes they were, sir," Jeremy answered.

"They will need proper training if we are to provide them with enough aide so that we can be rid of Pendragon," Anglo commented.

"Sir?" Jeremy asked.

"I've spoken with the Council," Anglo answered, "They will accept anyone who is willing t fight Pendragon at this time. This 'Lucius' could prove useful."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.

**The End**


	9. Bigfoot

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Return of the Imitators".

Bigfoot

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Montana, USA**

"Well, I just got off the phone with Macbeth," Merlin commented as he returned to the hotel room that he and Rachel had, "They defeated Lucius."

"Good," Rachel answered, "The last thing we need is to worry about a situation we can't help with in any fashion."

Merlin nodded and sat on his bed and resumed his studying of copies of texts that they had found during their brief stay in New York. It had been an interesting visit, although Rachel walked away from it rather embarrassed. Especially after meeting the gargoyle, Elisa. The fact that she and three other females in the clan had once been human was one shock to the female werewolf, but the struggles that Elisa's family had gone through had shamed her to the point where she couldn't complain about her own condition anymore.

"Are you sure this guy can help us, Merlin?" Rachel asked.

"Well, according to what Xanatos told us, the guy has his own extensive library of ancient texts and is no stranger to things related to the occult," Merlin answered, "we may have to do something to prove that we are connected to all that, but I'm sure we can think of something."

Rachel sighed, "I think proving we're 'supernatural' would be too easy for us. Can his library help us find anything about 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need'?"

"Unfortunately we won't know until we look through it," Merlin answered.

"And if he refuses to help?" Rachel asked.

Merlin sighed, "If he refuses, we will just have to hope that what he has will not help us and move on. Because the only other way would be for you to out muscle him or me to use magic to trick him or force him, and that is something will not do or condone."

"We can't sink to the level of the bad guys, can we?" Rachel nodded, "It's right. I may be getting used to my condition a bit more, but I certainly don't want to go around using it to bully people around."

"Fortunately Xanatos told us that this guy is a rather friendly guy, so I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Merlin sighed as he folded up the pages he was studying, "But it is time to turn in. We'll have a long drive tomorrow."

Merlin then laid back on his bed while Rachel watched as he pulled his blanket over him. She rolled over onto her side and shut off the lights, although she spent most of the night staring out at the window.

The next morning the two left after a rather light breakfast and got into a rental car, which Merlin had rented after their plane landed in Helena, and began to drive in the general direction of a small town called Philipsburg. According to what Xanatos had told them, a rather wealthy man, named Anthony Hiker lived in the mountains nearby and possessed a rather old and extensive library. It was an opportunity that Merlin couldn't pass up.

Rachel meanwhile found herself gazing out at the scenery as it moved by.

"They have some beautiful countryside around here," Rachel commented as she watched pine tree after pine tree go by.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "one of the best things about the United States and Canada. There are still wild places where animals can live. Wolves and bears are extinct in much of Europe. Of course, werewolf stories helped that cause, but that is a different thing and that isn't the primary reason. The main reason is the loss of habitat. Bears used to live in parts of France and much of Germany. The extensive building of cities in the Roman period helped eliminate bears from France and the Roman trade in exotic animals for the games didn't help either. As more cities sprang up in both the areas the Romans conquered and those that they didn't conquer, animals like wolves and bears were hunted down because of their 'threat' to society or they died off because man began hunting the animals they normally preyed on. The dominant non-human predator in Europe now is probably the Red Fox, and the largest game it'll bring down in much Europe is a rabbit."

"Many people would say that the animals blocked progress," Rachel commented, "Although, I tend to think there had to have been a balance that could have been reached."

Merlin shook his head, "Unlikely. Not in Europe anyway. Britain, France, Italy and many others are all densely populated. A single bear needs a large amount of territory to hunt and survive. There are just too many people in many parts of Europe for these animals to survive. Places like this are only successful in balancing man and nature because there are few men to force the animals out."

"Hopefully it stays beautiful like this forever," Rachel answered, "New York and London, even York, are all nice places, but for some reason they feel too loud and smelly for me."

"A were's natural affinity for the wild and nature," Merlin nodded, "Not unexpected."

"Either way, whether it's the fact that I'm a werewolf or any 'normal' love of nature," Rachel answered, "I just hope we can make some real progress and perhaps enjoy nature a little bit."

"That will depend on what Mr. Hiker has in mind," Merlin answered her.

**Hiker's Mansion, Hours Later**

Rachel whistled as Merlin pulled up into the driveway. They were both surprised to learn at the gate that Anthony Hiker was expecting them and they found a moderately sized log cabin with two vehicles parked outside. One an old Chevrolet pickup and the other a more recent Jeep.

"This is somewhat smaller then what I'd expect from a millionaire," Rachel commented.

"At least it's fairly remote," Merlin shrugged, "We shouldn't be disturbed."

"He couldn't keep a staff of servants up here," Rachel said as they got out of their vehicle, "Who do you suppose that voice was at the gate?"

"Actually, the voice is robotic," a voice interrupted from the doorway.

Both Rachel and Merlin looked up to see a middle aged blonde haired man, although much of it appeared to have fallen out, standing in the doorway. He wore a pair of jeans and a button down work-shirt.

"Anthony Hiker," the man said with a smile, "and you two must be Merlin Hawkins and Rachel Winters."

"Yes…" Merlin and Rachel answered at the same time.

"Relax," Hiker laughed, "Xanatos called me two day ago and said you were coming out. I've been expecting you, actually."

"Expecting us?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, I could stand to have some help with a little project I've been working on," Hiker nodded, "Xanatos told me you wouldn't mind helping me with the project, so I've been waiting for you."

Merlin sighed, knowing that the New York businessman had tried to help, and while he knew that he might have to do something, Merlin was not interested in helping him run a major project.

"We're here because we're doing some research that requires the use of your library," Merlin explained.

"Yes, yes," Hiker nodded, "Xanatos told me about that, you're quite welcome to use it, if you help me with my project."

"And just what project are you working on?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Come inside, and I'll show you," Hiker turned and headed back into the house.

Merlin and Rachel slowly followed. Inside, they actually found that the cabin was decorated rather scarcely. Anthony Hiker had not spent much of his wealth on things that one would think that a millionaire would spend money on. There were several cameras and various other pieces of surveillance equipment and video tapes. Hiker eventually lead the into a room that had a row of televisions set up, all of which were on. Rachel could see that they were security cameras, watching the forest around Hiker's cabin.

"Afraid some one is going to spy on you?" Rachel asked.

"No, the cameras are there to hopefully record a very rare, supposedly mythical species of 'animal'," Hiker answered and then pointed to photograph that sat on top of one of the television sets.

Merlin and Rachel took a closer look to see that it was a still photo in black and white of an almost human looking image walking along a stream.

"You're looking for Bigfoot?" Merlin gasped.

"Yes," Hiker nodded, "They found gargoyles in Manhattan, so why not Bigfoot? Besides, they'd be a great value to science."

"How?" Merlin asked.

"Bigfoot is likely only to be some early version of man or close cousin," Hiker answered, "Think what it would mean if we found one?"

"Modern man is more likely to treat it as a amusement," Merlin told the man, "It wouldn't be free."

"I was hopping to avoid that," Hiker answered, "I own much of the land around here as a preserve. If I can find them, and film them, I have a site where they can live without being exploited. I can study them, and if people want to watch them, I can charge them to watch my televisions."

"Sounds like you have everything covered," Rachel commented.

"I made most of my money in business, but I've always been a scientist at heart," Hiker answered, "I don't want to do anything that would hurt them."

Merlin and Rachel exchanged looks.

"If you don't want to help, I'm sure you can find another library around here somewhere," Hiker commented.

Merlin and Rachel exchanged looks again and finally Merlin sighed.

"Fine," Merlin answered, "We'll help you find these Bigfeet.

Hiker smiled, "Great."

"So how are you looking for Bigfoot?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I've set up cameras to try and capture them as they walk by, but I haven't had any luck in finding them," Hiker sighed, "I'm now to the point where we need to start following any and all possible signs of a Bigfoot."

"What if there aren't any in the area?" Rachel asked.

"I've been following the signs for years," Hiker answered defensively, "We are in the home range of Bigfoot. The Rookies and the Pacific Northwest have been where most sightings have occurred…"

"But every supposed sighting was a doctored picture or an obvious lie," Merlin interrupted, "I mean, the photo you have on top of the television there is of a man in a gorilla costume."

Hiker looked back at the photo and nodded, "Yes, this photo is obviously fake, but that is because those people were merely following myth. I'm trying to find scientific evidence. I've seen tracks in this area that are too big to be human and too human like to be a gargoyles'."

"You've found tracks?" Merlin asked.

Hiker nodded, "Yes. Many in this area. At first I thought they were simply left by some kids playing a joke on the people of one of the little towns in the area, but soon I began finding more and more. Now, Bigfoot is currently viewed as myth and legend in the modern world, so it's unlikely that I'd be finding that many large foot prints."

"So how do you want us to help you?" Rachel asked.

"Well, for now, nothing," Hiker answered, "We'll begin tracking them tomorrow. I figured that the two of you would like to relax a little bit, and Xanatos told me you had your little research project to work on."

"Thank you," Merlin answered, "That would be most generous of you."

The two sat quietly in Anthony Hiker's basement library. Merlin sat quietly looking through an ancient text that he held in his lap, while Rachel looked on.

"I don't trust this guy," Rachel grumbled, "I just don't. I saw the news reports when the gargoyles in Manhattan were revealed to the world. I don't know the reporter personally, but something tells me that the guy was not wanting to broadcast the existence of gargoyles out of scientific curiosity."

"And you think that Anthony Hiker is similar to that reporter?" Merlin asked her.

"Not entirely, but I don't think that this quest of his to find Bigfoot is for his own personal interest," Rachel answered, "And even if he does have the best of intentions, I don't think he knows what others will do if he does find Bigfoot."

"I can agree with you there," Merlin nodded, "I don't sense anything truly evil about him, but some of his ideas about what he's doing is a bit misguided. We might simply have find some way to change his mind about what he's going to do after he finds them."

Rachel nodded, "Hopefully we can do that."

Merlin agreed, "Because you know we have to help him if we want to get a look at the texts he has here."

**The Next Day**

Both Rachel and Merlin were awakened early by Hiker, whom they found to be in full hiking gear.

"Come on, you two," Hiker insisted, "The early bird catches the worm and we don't want to miss it!"

Hiker was very disappointed when he found that neither Rachel nor Merlin were as excited as he was. He paced around their table and outside the doors to their rooms while they got dressed for the day. He finally perked up as the two came out of the cabin into his back yard, and handed them each a pair of binoculars and a camera.

"You'll need those," Hiker said, "Binoculars to see, and the camera to get proof of course."

"I'm surprised you didn't give us tweezers to take hair samples if we come across fur on bits of tree bark or something," Rachel commented.

"No, I'll handle all of that sort of stuff," Hiker answered, "I just need the help looking for their tracks and following them."

Rachel and Merlin exchanged glances for a few moments.

"How can the two of you not be excited about this?" Hiker asked, "You act as if you thought I was some sort of nut!"

"It's not that we don't believe you when you say you've found Bigfoot tracks," Merlin replied, "But we find it hard to believe that man of your status in society would want to find a live Bigfoot."

"The world is changing, Mr. Hawkins," Hiker answered, "Before the gargoyles were discovered in Manhattan, I thought that Bigfoot was just another urban legend. Something to tickle the fancy of science-fiction writers, but the discovery of living gargoyles has changed the world. I mean gargoyles were considered to myth at one point, right?"

Rachel and Merlin nodded.

"Well, since that myth is now proven true, who's to say that Bigfoot is only a myth?" Hiker said, "There are many things in the world that we've considered to be myth, and gargoyles were among them. Now gargoyles are real, so many of our other myths might be real. Bigfoot, King Arthur, the wizard Merlin, maybe even werewolves are real."

Rachel and Merlin both glanced at each other again.

"We have to see what myths are true and which are merely myths," Hiker continued.

"What if these creatures don't want to be revealed to the world once we find them?" Rachel asked, "I mean, from the news reports I've seen, the gargoyles in Manhattan are very intelligent. Smarter then some people even."

"Well, I've never had the opportunity to interview one of them, so I don't know what their opinion on the matter is," Hiker answered, "If we find a Bigfoot and he says he doesn't want to be filmed, then we won't film him."

"Suppose they don't speak in a language that we understand?" Merlin questioned.

"I understand both French and Spanish, the only other languages that they are likely to know, as the Canadian province of Quebec speaks French and Latin America speaks Spanish," Hiker answered and pressed on, "No problem. Now the closest tracks are this way…"

Hiker then began to walk down a hiking trail while Rachel and Merlin slowly followed.

"So, does Bigfoot truly exist?" Rachel whispered as they followed him.

"In all probability, yes," Merlin answered quietly, "The Unseelie Court used yetis, creatures that are like Bigfoot, but are native to the Himalayas originally. It is possible that there are Bigfoot creatures in North America."

"Can you make sure that his camera doesn't work if they don't want to be filmed?" Rachel whispered again.

Merlin nodded with a confident smile, "all too easily. The problem will be in translating whatever language they use. I doubt it would be anything that humans know."

Merlin and Rachel followed Hiker as he walked along the hiking trail for almost a mile before he stopped and kneeled down on the middle of the path. As Merlin and Rachel approached they found that he was looking closely at a set of footprints in the dirt of the path. They were very human-like, except for the fact that they were at least a foot longer and six inches three wider. Merlin also noticed that Rachel's face had suddenly changed, as if she had smelt something that wasn't very good.

"These are Bigfoot tracks," Hiker explained.

"What's that smell?" Rachel asked.

"Hmm?" Hiker asked.

"Can't you smell it?" Rachel asked, "It has to be the worst case of body odor I've ever detected."

Hiker then did something that Merlin didn't expect. He smiled.

"It's a Bigfoot's scent," Hiker smiled, "I've had to train myself in order to smell their scent and even with that, I can't smell it all that well."

"It reeks," Rachel commented.

"You have quite the sense of smell," Hiker replied.

"I've always had a very sensitive sense of smell," Rachel answered, covering the fact that her it was her werewolf sense of smell that she was using.

"That is good," Hiker answered, "But it will be better if we follow the tracks. I will go back along the trail to see where he came from. You two, should follow the trail."

Merlin and Rachel nodded and then looked carefully at the ground. Through the aid of magic, Merlin was easily able to see where creature had stepped once it had gotten into the taller grass. Hiker meanwhile followed the tracks in the opposite direction going much more slowly.

"How long do you think it will take to find out what you need from his library?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know," Merlin sighed, "It will take time. Hiker has not cataloged his library the same way Xanatos did his. I've mostly been having to do a lot of sorting to find what I want."

"Meanwhile, I'll just follow my nose," Rachel answered, "These bigfeet do not smell good."

"Neither did the Unseelie's Yeti," Merlin commented, "I think that the two species do not have the same technological know-how that humans and some gargoyles do."

"So they don't shower?" Rachel asked.

"Not in the way you and I would assume," Merlin answered, "They probably use streams and creeks or even lakes and ponds, but since they don't have access to soap the way we do, well… you already know."

Rachel sighed and followed Merlin along the path. It twisted and turned around several large rocks and came fairly close to a large cliff, which ran for miles. Rachel noted that the scent was getting stronger, but it wasn't strong enough to say that they were close.

**Elsewhere**

Anthony Hiker paid sole attention to the tracks he was following. While he was truly curious as to whether or not Bigfoot actually existed, he hoped to make a little money off of his discovery by using his land as a zoo. He was somewhat surprised that Merlin and Rachel almost seemed to voice concern for the creatures he was tracking, but he shrugged it off. From what Xanatos had had told him over the phone, their little research project was very important, and he had the library that they needed. What they were researching, however, Hiker could only guess. He had bought the books online when they came up off an internet search for 'myths', and he had only kept the ones that said something about Bigfoot creatures. The other books he put back up on E-bay.

He continued to focus on following the tracks, putting his hands down to feel the outline of each footprint as he went. He paid little or no attention to a large cliff that he was near, or the fact that he wasn't entirely alone. The sudden snapping of a dried tree branch caught his attention to the fact that he wasn't alone and he looked up to see a yearling mountain lion watching him rather intently. Seeing the cat startled him and he jumped up and began to back away with a very nervous look on his face. The mountain lion simply followed him, pressing him toward the cliff's edge.

"Stay back!" Hiker yelled at the cat while waving his camera.

His actions made his situation worse, as in his waving his arms in the air, he lost his balance and his camera and fell backward off the edge of the cliff. The camera bounced off the ground at the mountain lion's feet while Hiker crashed into the trees a short distance from the edge of the cliff. He blacked out as he felt branches hit his back, arms, and legs.

Two heads turned when they heard a soft thump about five feet away from them. The two beings moved over to the location and found it to be a man, laying on the ground unconscious. He appeared to have fallen from the cliff above them as there were bits and pieces of branches in his clothes and as they looked up they saw several broken branches. One bent down to check the person and found that he was barely clinging to life. What followed was a series of grunts in what sounded like an argument. Eventually the one that checked the life signs of the fallen person, lifted up the man and began to slowly walk away with him.

**Evening**

It was late evening when Merlin and Rachel paused to look up at the cliff they had just taken a small foot path down a much less steep then the cliff.

"Whatever we're following, they have a larger territory than I would have thought," Rachel commented as she looked up at the cliff.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "Which may be good for the bigfeet. Three people aren't likely to find something that has a large territory, unless it wants to be found."

"Should we go back to the cabin?" Rachel asked

"We'll need to find Hiker, first," Merlin said, "Let's go around the cliff to the other side. He went in that direction."

Rachel nodded and the two kept walking, despite the fact that both were beginning to feel a little footsore from all the walking. After a few moments, Rachel suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Merlin asked, as he looked back.

"I smell Hiker," Rachel began, "and what has to be two bigfeet."

"What?" Merlin gasped.

"Just as I said," Rachel answered, "I can smell two bigfeet, and I can smell Hiker. He is with them."

"He found them?" Merlin wondered.

"It has to be, but why did he go with them?" Rachel asked back.

"I wouldn't know, but we need to investigate this," Merlin said, "Can you follow the scent?"

"Easily," Rachel answered and began to walk along a different route.

Hiker felt as if he had been run over by a semi truck pulling a trailer full of cement bricks. His head hurt, and he guessed that both legs and at least one arm was broken.

"Dang lion," Hiker mumbled weakly, not even trying to sit up.

He heard the surprised sound of grunts as his words were heard in the area. Suddenly a large furry head came into his line of sight, it large lower fangs protruding out of its lower lip. Hiker feeling very delusional only mumbled at the sight of the creature.

"Mom, tell dad he needs a shave badly," Hiker said weakly.

The head turned away and there were more grunts as whatever put its head in front of him turned away to look at something else. Hiker lay there quietly until a root was shoved into his mouth. He choked on it for a few moments, but a large furry ape-like hand prevented him from spitting it out. He slowly managed to chew and swallow the root that was fed to him. It tasted horrible, but with the large hand over his mouth he couldn't do anything else. After he swallowed the last bit, Hiker drifted off to sleep.

Rachel and Merlin pressed on through think undergrowth in their attempt to locate the lost Anthony Hiker. They had crossed at one stream and had come down to a small valley. There were several small aspen and birch trees that appeared to be growing in such a way that they created a wall around the valley. The two had found an area where the trees seemed to have been bent to make a narrow path.

"This must be their dwelling," Merlin commented, "The trees seem to go around the valley."

"Will they see us?" Rachel asked.

"More then likely," Merlin sighed, "Hopefully I can figure out a spell that will translate their language into ours… although I'd need to hear their language first."

Rachel glanced up at the sky and then at Merlin.

"Should I change?" Rachel asked.

"No," Merlin shook his head, "At least not right now. If they start to attack us, then change, but we don't want to start a fight."

"Okay," Rachel nodded, "Let's go."

The two slowly walked through the path and were astounded by what they saw. Two female creatures, each about seven feet tall and standing on oversized hairy feet, which resembled human feet in terms of structure, were grunting back and forth at one another while Anthony Hiker lay unconscious close to where Merlin and Rachel had entered. Both Rachel and Merlin dropped down so that neither would be seen. Merlin quietly began to work on a translation spell, while Rachel watched the two creatures seem to argue. It took a couple of seconds for Merlin to get the spell right, but both were soon able to understand what the two creatures were arguing about.

"I can't believe you brought that man here!" the first Bigfoot screamed at the other, "That's they guy that wants to profit off of us!"

"He was badly hurt," the second argued, "We needed to take him back here so we could give him our medicine to dull his pain."

"You should have left him where you found him," the first growled back, "what do you think will happen when he recovers and sees us? We will have loud noisy people around here all day and they will not treat us well. We will be exhibits to them, and your brother will not like it."

"He can move the band if that happens," the second answered, "The moment we forget to treat all creatures with respect is the same moment we become as bad as those we oppose."

"Our safety is more important!" the first said firmly.

"Where is his camera then?" the second questioned, "He didn't have a camera with him when we found him, and we haven't found one on him now. He'll have no evidence if he tells anyone and most won't believe him."

"That won't stop him from coming back and revealing our secret to the world," the first answered, "He is not to be trusted."

"Isn't there something that can be done to make sure he doesn't reveal us to the world then?" the second asked, "since his near death experience is not enough to convince you that we can't let people die when we can save them, what can we do?"

"I don't know," the first sighed and looked over at the unconscious man that she and her sister had found.

"If I may," Merlin spoke as he stepped forward, interrupting the two and surprising Rachel, "I believe I can help…"

"More humans!" the first screamed while the second looked on with nervous fear.

"Relax we mean you no harm," Merlin spoke.

"Only our exposure," the first answered, pointing at his camera.

Merlin held up he camera, and destroyed it in a blast of magical energy in one swift motion. Rachel crushed hers.

"Our intentions were only to photograph you if you gave consent," Merlin said plainly, "Since you do not, we will not be taking any pictures."

Both of the creatures were startled by what they saw.

"You're magicians!" the first gasped.

"It's sorcerer," Merlin corrected, "And yes I am a sorcerer. My name is Merlin Hawkins. This is Rachel Winters."

"She is not a sorcerer?" the second asked.

"I'm a werewolf," Rachel answered, "both of us have plenty of practice in keeping our identities hidden from those who would give us trouble."

"You would not expose us?" the first asked.

"Not unless you wanted us to," Merlin answered, "We're only here to help you with the man you rescued."

"Can you make him not expose us?" the first asked.

"I need to find out the truth of what he was intending to do here," Merlin answered, "He told us that this was only for a personal mission of discovery."

"No," the first said in a low voice, "He intends to expose us and profit off our images. He has set up cameras throughout our forest, and is constantly adding more and never taking the old ones down. Our band is being forced out of our homes just to maintain our privacy."

Merlin sighed and walked over to where Hiker lay. He was obviously injured badly from his fall, and after a quick examination, Merlin found the man barely clinging to life, and that was slowly fading away. Merlin gasped in surprise.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

Merlin turned to the two bigfeet standing near them, "Where did you find him?"

"He fell off of a cliff," the second answered, "We… I brought him hear to heal the worst of his wounds."

"What is it?" Rachel asked in a firmer voice.

"He's dying," Merlin answered, "Magic won't heal him, at least not in the way one would think. The only way I could think now, would be to transform him into something that has a much more robust nature…"

"He'd have to wait until the full moon for the werewolf 'curse' to fully take effect on him," Rachel pointed out.

"And it's nighttime," Merlin answered, "A gargoyle transformation is out because dawn and therefore a gargoyle's stone sleep is too far away. Not to mention the fact that he's in such a condition that the transformation alone could kill him."

"Isn't there a way you could save him?" the second Bigfoot asked.

"I could set his bones so that they would work," Merlin sighed, "But the sheer trauma of his fall is killing him. I can't do anything for that."

"Trauma?" the first Bigfoot asked, "From what?"

"From falling off of the cliff," Merlin explained, "The human body is not designed to fall several feet, and I'd presume that it was only the tree branches that prevented him from being killed instantly."

"We've never had to worry about such 'trauma'," the first Bigfoot commented, "We could heal from such a fall."

"But the change in his internal organs could aggravate the problem to the point where it could kill him," Merlin pointed out, "Your anatomy and human anatomy are very different."

"Only in terms of size and durability," the second Bigfoot commented, "the outer similarities between our races are quite obvious."

"How would you…?" Rachel began to ask.

"You have no idea how careless human campers are, were," the first Bigfoot answered, "various bands have found all sorts of literature and garbage around their camp sites after they left."

"Do you still have the books?" Merlin asked.

"No," the Bigfoot answered, "Our policy is to make sure that they end up in proper human waste facilities, although they have always helped our bands understand your languages."

"Amazing," Merlin commented.

"It is," the first Bigfoot nodded, "And if humans were more tolerant of things that weren't human we might be willing to try and live with them, but it has been our experience that they either wish to kill or profit off of oddities."

Merlin only sighed.

"What about saving the man?" the second Bigfoot asked.

"Heal his bones and since he's had such 'love' for our kind, let him live with us," the first Bigfoot instructed Merlin, "It would also protect our secret."

"I don't think he would want this," Merlin commented.

"I don't think we have a choice," Rachel commented, "if he is dying, we have to do anything we can to save him, even if his actions weren't entirely good. We can't sink to his level."

"You're right," Merlin sighed and raised one hand.

**Morning**

Hiker felt like hell when he finally woke up. He found himself laying in a valley surrounded by a wall of trees. He looked over to see Merlin and Rachel laying in two sleeping bags nearby, and to his surprise, he also saw two hairy creatures laying on the opposite end of the small clearing he was in.

"I knew it!" Hiker exclaimed loudly.

That woke up everyone else in the clearing.

"He's up," Rachel commented as she sat up.

"I knew it!" Hiker exclaimed again, "I found Bigfoot!"

"His attitude hasn't changed," the first Bigfoot commented sourly in its grunting type language.

"Merlin, do you have your camera?" Hiker asked.

"They do not want to be exposed," Merlin answered.

"How do you know?" Hiker demanded.

"I asked," Merlin answered.

"They told you?" Hiker asked.

"The sorcerer used his magic to understand our language," the first Bigfoot answered.

"Sorcerer?" Hiker asked.

Merlin sighed, "Your earlier comment on myths being real was accurate. I am Merlin Hawkins, advisor to Arthur Pendragon of early Medieval Britain. I know sorcery and am a fey halfling."

"Wait till the press hears this…" Hiker commented to himself.

"Unfortunately, you do not have that option," Rachel commented, "Not unless you want to reveal yourself to the world."

"What?" Hiker asked.

Merlin raised one hand and suddenly a large glass mirror appeared in front of Hiker and he slowly looked into it. He soon backed away in shock at what he saw. His whole body was covered in thick fur, with the exception of his face and the palms of his hands, and apparently the bottom of his feet. He seemed to have developed a slight brow-ridge over his eyes, but his eyebrows were still there. His lower canines had lengthened into fangs and poked out over his upper lip. He ran his tongue over the rest of his teeth and found that his upper canines had become a much smaller set of fangs.

"What's happened to me?" Hiker asked in a shocked voice.

"These two found you lying on the ground after you fell off of a cliff nearby," Merlin explained, gesturing to the two bigfeet, "When Rachel and I arrived, you were already dying from the trauma caused by the fall. The only thing that I could do to save your life was to cast a spell that would turn you into a Bigfoot."

"Change me back!" Hiker exclaimed.

"I'm afraid I can not," Merlin sighed, "While it was successful in preventing your death, my spell was altered somewhat by the trauma that you had suffered. In order to save you, the spell was made permanent."

Hiker looked down with a very depressed look on his face.

"And given what we've been told, that might be a good thing," Rachel commented.

"What?!" Hiker roared, jumping to his feet.

He flinched when he saw the woman's eyes flash yellow for an instant before returning to normal.

"We were told that you sought to profit off the bigfeet living here," Rachel answered, "That you intended to put them in a 'zoo', so to speak. You lied to us about your intentions."

Hiker found himself at a loss for words they had caught him.

"Their secret is now, your secret," Rachel finished.

"We are sorry that things came to this, but there was nothing else that we could have done," Merlin commented, "Hera and her sister Shera will help you adjust to everything."

"You could stay with us until you're willing to move into your own little valley," Shera, the second Bigfoot, spoke.

"I still have my home," Hiker said quickly.

"And what happens when you run out of food there?" Hera, the first Bigfoot, questioned, "You can't go into a human grocery store like that. You will need to learn to hunt and live with our band."

Hiker only looked down and said nothing. There was an awkward silence as Hiker only cried. Merlin was about to say something when Hiker raised a hand and stopped him.

"Just go," Hiker said weakly, "Stay at my house until I can come home."

**One Week Later**

Rachel sighed as she finished looking through the last book that she and Merlin had looked through to try and figure out what the prophesy concerning Britain's Greatest Hour of Need in Hiker's library. The two had not found anything that would give them any more information as to who and what it would maintain. Most of what they found simply what they had already read. Merlin sighed heavily as well.

"Nothing," Rachel sighed.

Merlin nodded, "I'm beginning to wonder if we will ever find out what this threat to Britain will be."

"I'm sure we will," Rachel commented, "hopefully we find out in time to stop it."

Merlin nodded as he heard a door open elsewhere. The two then heard footsteps around the floor above them. The two walked up the stairs to find that Hiker had returned with Shera close behind him.

"You're back," Merlin commented.

"For now," Hiker commented, "Once tax time and house bills come around I'll have to move out into the forest, but for now, this is my home."

"There are some crevices in the cliff that he fell off of that he could live in, if he wishes to remain on his own," Shera grunted, "Or he could move in with Hera and I."

"But I had to come here for now," Hiker grunted weakly, "Get everything in shape and say my goodbyes to my old life."

"We understand," Merlin answered.

"Did you find out everything you needed with your research," Hiker grunted.

"Unfortunately your library didn't help us," Merlin answered, "But we must thank you for letting us use it."

"What will you do now then?" Shera grunted.

"I think we'll head towards Asia," Merlin commented, "See if we can find any clues to what we are looking for."

"Good luck," Hiker grunted.

"Thank you," Merlin answered weakly.

**The End**


	10. In Need of Help

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Bigfoot".

In Need of Help

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London**

The clang of swords echoed through the exercise room as Macbeth and Arthur sparred against one another. Both matched each other blow for blow for several minutes at an impasse, before Macbeth lunged forward and Arthur stepped aside to avoid the blow and whacked Macbeth's hand with the flat side of the sword. The immortal Scotsman soon dropped his sword.

"Well done," Macbeth breathed as he paused to catch his breath, "It has been a long time since I have had the opportunity to practice with a true swordsman."

Arthur nodded, "Surely you can't be serious that no one else can wield a sword?"

"I taught fencing as well as history at Columbia in New York," Macbeth answered, "the students learn, but they do not master swordplay."

"What about the modern armies?" Arthur asked, "When Griff told me his stories of fighting the Nazis, I assumed that use of swords had been abandoned in favor of the new technology, but I've since seen that some soldiers still carry a sword."

"They're only for ornamentation now," Macbeth answered, "Modern warfare takes place at too long range for swords to be truly effective."

"What of Goliath and his clan, while the two of you were 'enemies'?" Arthur asked.

"Every gargoyle I've known is a true warrior," Macbeth answered, "but they generally use their natural strengths to their advantage. Their wings and physical strength for example. Sparring with them would not train me in the art of swordplay, and unless the sparring match was held in an enclosed space, I would not be of much challenge to a gargoyle. Plus the fact, that while I was a foe of Goliath's clan, they would not have allowed a sparring mach to occur. They would have assumed that I was out for a full fledged battle."

"Well, they wouldn't now," Arthur commented, "and probably good for all of us. You are quite skilled. You get rather aggressive at times, but still quite skilled."

Macbeth nodded, "I know that. I've been rather aggressive for years in the way I've fought. Unless I'm fighting Demona, I can not die, and for many years, it was Demona I was either fighting or hunting. It took me a long time to find something that could make me think that I shouldn't be trying to die."

Arthur only nodded, "I will say, this sparring session has kept my mind off of other matters."

"Troubling case?" Macbeth asked.

"No," Arthur sighed, "It's the fact that the Illuminati have no made any recent attempt to capture me. Lucius has vanished into the sewers with his followers. And on top of that, we can't provide any aide to Merlin and Rachel because they are off on their quest."

"I'm quite confident that they will be successful one way or another," Macbeth commented, "And if it is more excitement you are looking for, you can aide the clan in their patrols."

"Perhaps, it would give me something to do," Arthur answered.

**Elsewhere**

"We're here," a moderately sized male cheetah-like mutate commented as he looked around the rooftops of London."

"We should have been here earlier," a bulldog mutate grumbled in an aggravated voice, "If that rich man's airplane hadn't flown to the wrong English city."

"At least he got us to England without attracting attention to us," another mutate spoke, "I'm sure the press wouldn't hesitate to either call us monsters or call for doctors to experiment on us."

"Does anyone remember the address that Mr. Hawkins gave us?" a fourth asked.

"You mean Merlin," a fifth mutate corrected.

"Does it matter?" the fourth asked back, "They're one and the same."

"The books say his name his only Merlin," the fifth answered.

"He said he has a last name," the fourth argued, "I'm just being polite and respectful."

"Polite and respectful?" the bulldog mutate questioned, "We're the ones who have lost something. We're the ones they should be polite to!"

"We shouldn't be trying to make others treat us special because we're 'victims'," the fourth countered, "because we'd eventually get accused of whining."

"But…" the bulldog mutate began to growl.

"ENOUGH!" the cheetah mutate screamed, and addressed the two arguing mutates, "We need Pendragon and Macbeth's help. Arguing about who is to be 'polite' will get us no where and will likely drive a wedge between us and them."

"But…" the bulldog mutate began to argue.

"I will also remind you that the one got us transformed into these creatures is also in this city and Pendragon knows he his here," the cheetah mutate cut him off, "You go in there ranting about 'oh I'm a victim', and they'll think we're in league with the evil one. Now to answer John's question, yes I remember the address. Although it will be safer for us to go there at night."

"So what do we do now?" the fourth mutate, John, asked.

"For now we should lay low and stay out of sight," the cheetah mutate answered, "Dusk isn't too far away."

**Office, Elsewhere in London**

"Have you found any sign of this 'Lucius' mutate, Mr. Irons?" Agent Anglo asked.

"We are finding signs that he exists," Jeremy Irons answered, "But no concrete sign that will help us find him."

"What?" Anglo asked.

"I've had robotic drones comb the area where Lucius had previously based himself," Jeremy answered, "There were a few scattered hair samples around various locations, but nothing that would indicate as to where they went."

"Those mutates could be anywhere in London," Anglo commented, "Don't be so foolish as to think he'd stay in the same area."

"The problem is, I haven't," Jeremy sighed, "Once it was clear that they had left the area, I sent the drones to begin searching all available warehouses that are either large enough that they can hide in or abandoned, and therefore safe."

"Did you find anything?" Anglo asked.

"We only found enough to prove they were there," Jeremy answered, "Pieces of fur and so on. Right now, I have the drones checking the sewers and the subway system. The results should be ready by this time tomorrow."

"Good," Anglo answered, "The council wants this Lucius found. You will find him."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.

"What is the current situation with Pendragon?" Anglo questioned.

"Easy to say that he is board," Jeremy replied, "His Private Investigation service is currently in a lull with little or no cases to report, and with our hunt for 'Lucius' and his followers, he has had nothing else to do."

"Keep as close an eye on him as you can," Anglo instructed, "As well as on Macbeth and the gargoyle clan that helps him. Their activities could lead to some discovery of our plans that we can not allow Pendragon to know of."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy answered.

**Mansion**

The London Clan found Macbeth and Arthur both eating as they came down for what was their breakfast.

"Good evening, all," Griff spoke first as they entered, "How is everything?"

"Nothing is bad," Arthur answered, "A little slow right now, but nothing is bad."

"No cases, eh?" Griff asked as he sat down next to the man who had made him his first modern knight.

"Not only that, but I feel that I am helpless to provide any sort of help to Merlin in learning about this prophesy," Arthur answered.

"We have done all we can to help with that," Una spoke up, "Merlin has found out who has the knowledge of what will happen. All he needs to do is find out when it will happen."

"And since Merlin looked through all of his books on the subject, as well as ours, there is nothing more that we specifically can do," Leo added, "We are sorry that we can't help him either, but there's nothing more we can do."

"Couldn't you just go to the library or something?" Chloe asked, "They have enough books that surely one would help."

"The chances of finding a book that seriously deals with the issue we are trying to solve at a public library is very slim," Una answered, "You'd need to go through a section devoted to 'Myths and Folklore' just to find the King Arthur stories today."

"And most of them seem to be the stories of my reign in the early Middle Ages," Arthur answered, "And the few that are references, only talk about what modern man has learned about Medieval man's superstitions and 'beliefs'."

"I'm sorry," Chloe spoke.

"It's not entirely a poor suggestion," Macbeth commented, "If you're wanting to really do some research."

"Hm?" Una asked.

Arthur also looked interested by Macbeth's comment.

"It isn't as 'simple' as going to the library, but it might be helpful in gaining some extra information," Macbeth answered, "the university is sponsoring a sort of 'Arthur Pendragon' festival this week."

"Sounds interesting," Lancelot commented, "What is going on there?"

"Various activities," Macbeth answered, "Supposed reenactments, replica artifacts, and various books on or about 'King Arthur'."

"Wouldn't most of these books be merely copies of the stories as well?" Arthur asked.

"Many of them probably are," Macbeth replied, "But there are likely to be many reference books there that might provide some theories as to when 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' will arrive."

"When does this 'festival' start?" Arthur asked.

"I believe the 'library' section opens tomorrow and is open to the public," Macbeth answered.

"I will say, that even if this isn't entirely helpful," Arthur began, "It is rather curious. I might even go just to see what they're doing. See how accurate it is."

"I doubt there will be anything accurate other then in the reference books," Macbeth grumbled, "This 'festival' is not being put on by the history department. Most of it is actually coming from British Culture classes, which focus a lot of time on reading classic works of literature."

"They might be consulting the history department," Una spoke up, "Students can not get these things as wrong as you say."

"You haven't been me and read papers on 'Macbeth' that included the phrase, 'like Shakespeare's character'," Macbeth answered, "Half of the papers that I've read on myself, the students entire research was based on the play 'Macbeth'. The other half simply say they didn't know Macbeth was real."

"You're experiences with American students can not be THAT bad," Leo argued.

"I beg to differ," Macbeth sighed, "I graded their papers. The only positive thing is that they did learn when they were properly taught."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm curious," Arthur answered, "I think I will take a look at this festival. Even if it is inaccurate."

Arthur then turned the subject of his conversation to a different topic.

"What are your plans for find Lucius, tonight?" Arthur asked.

"We are mostly patrolling to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble," Griff answered, "We don't have the room to hold him and all his followers prisoner."

Arthur nodded, "Knowing where he is would probably still be a good idea."

Griff nodded in agreement.

"You wouldn't mind my company tonight, would you?" Arthur asked.

"You should never need to ask, your Majesty," Griff answered, "Maybe we'll be able to find Lucius's hideout tonight."

**Under London**

Lucius sighed heavily as he lead his group of followers along an abandoned subway tunnel, trying to find some new place that they could operate out of. Finding a new base had been difficult for the mutate who wished to imitate the Ancient Roman Emperors. His current form made it impossible for him to simply buy a home, and nearly every warehouse that he had attempted to take residence in was either in full use or too small to efficiently house him and his followers. That left him with tramping through the sewers. He sulked as he went.

"I hate having to crawl through these blasted sewers," one his followers complained.

"We have no choice," Lucius answered, "The one that Arthur's friends found us in appeared to be the only warehouse that was abandoned. The only option that leaves us is to find a section of the sewers that we can use effectively."

Lucius was quiet for a moment and then growled further, "And if you whine again, you will be punished."

The follower that had spoken up gulped nervously.

"Sorry, sir," the lone follower answered.

It was then that a new voice cut them off before anyone could say anything else.

"Why should you be sorry?" the voice asked, "There is always a better option."

"Who said that?" Lucius demanded, bringing a full charge to his fists.

"Calmness, calmness," the voice answered as a small robotic bee floated down from the ceiling of the tunnel they were in.

Lucius looked up at the device with a look of suspicion. The voice seemed to be coming from the device.

"What are you?" Lucius asked the device.

"The device you're talking to is a special reconnaissance drone," the voice answered, "I, the one controlling the drone, am Jeremy Irons. It has taken me quite a lot of effort to find you Lucius Sevran, It would honor me if you gave me a few moments of your time."

Lucius gave no response. Irons took that as a sign that he could continue.

"Now, I am to understand that you are currently in opposition with Arthur Pendragon?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," Lucius answered.

"You've failed in your previous attempts to stop him, haven't you?" Jeremy questioned.

"What do you care?" Lucius demanded.

"Let's say that I represent a group of people, who would very much like to see Arthur Pendragon die," Jeremy answered, "We could provide you and your group with adequate training to fight against him and his gargoyle allies."

"You're not some Unseelie are you?" Lucius questioned, "Because I've had enough of them."

Jeremy chuckled, "No, I am not a fey, nor do I represent the surviving members of the Unseelie Court. I represent a very human organization."

"What kind of organization?" Lucius asked.

"Please follow the drone, and everything will be explained to you," Jeremy answered.

**Over London**

Griff's patrol team made a slow loop around the center of London before heading toward the docks to make sweep to look for Lucius and his followers. Arthur followed behind him on a hoversled with Octavia and Guinevere following close behind and above. So far, there hadn't been any sign of any major criminal activity or of Lucius.

"There seems to be very little going on tonight," Guinevere commented as she moved up beside Arthur to get a better look at the ground below.

"A sign that were either succeeding quite well," Arthur answered, "Or that our foes are planning something big."

"As much as I'd like to hope it is the former," Griff spoke up, "I believe we may be ready to see what they were planning!"

The others then looked to where Griff was pointing and saw many mutates gliding slowly, and in a manner that indicated that they didn't want to be seen by anyone on the ground. Their maneuvers were not what gave them reason to be startled, but it was their numbers.

"There are far too many of them to be Lucius and his followers," Octavia pointed out, "Unless he's found some way to make more."

"Can you see an African Wild Dog among them?" Arthur questioned.

"I can't tell the difference between many of them," Griff answered.

"Avalon had books on the creatures that live on foreign lands, but I never read any of them," Guinevere added.

"I also do not recognize many of the animal species, but judging by their flight pattern, they either have no clue that we are here, or that they are not in Lucius's service," Octavia finished.

"Then who could it be?" Guinevere asked.

"If it's not Lucius, then it could be the other former Unseelie slaves," Arthur replied.

"What would they be doing here?" Griff asked in a slightly confused voice.

"Merlin said that most of the ones from London were wanting to return," Arthur answered, "But none of them showed up on the day that Merlin said they would, so I assumed that it was impossible to try and get them here."

"That assumption was apparently wrong," Octavia commented.

"So what do we do?" Guinevere asked.

"I suppose we should make contact with them," Arthur sighed, "But, I urge all of you to use extreme caution. We don't know how to react."

The group then watched as the mutates began landing on the roof of a building nearby. Once they had all gathered, Arthur slowly began to pilot his hoversled toward the same rooftop. The three gargoyles with him did the same. After both groups had successfully landed and gathered on the roof top, they both eyed the other, waiting for someone to say something.

"Are you Arthur Pendragon?" a cheetah mutate asked finally, while stepping forward.

"Yes," Arthur answered slowly, "May I ask who you are?"

"You can call me, Chester," the cheetah mutate answered, "Although some of the former Unseelie slaves of American descent took to calling me 'spots'."

"Wouldn't be a bad nickname," a bulldog mutate teased from behind him, "Especially since some of them Manhattan mutates have names like 'Talon' and 'Claw'."

"I refuse to let anyone call me, 'Spots'!" Chester yelled back.

"No one will call you what you do not wish to be called," Arthur said quickly trying to calm him down, "Now, I'm afraid there are too many of you to through all your names at this time. For now, could I ask why you have come searching for me, and to ask if you would mind moving this meeting elsewhere?"

"We're mostly here because we need your help," Chester answered, "and we can move to some other place. That would probably be the safest decision, since we are not very inconspicuous."

"You'd be surprised how inconspicuous you can be," Griff commented.

It took the group roughly fifteen minutes to leave the rooftop and return to the Mansion. They found that Macbeth was still up and that Chloe and Julia's patrol team had finished their route and had returned. Leo and Una were still working at their shop.

"These are the Unseelie slaves that didn't join Lucius?" Macbeth asked when he saw Chester and the other mutates.

Arthur nodded, "They say they need our help."

"Yes," Chester spoke up, "We need your help."

"I'm afraid that neither Arthur, nor myself are skilled geneticists," Macbeth answered.

"We've agreed to let Xanatos's geneticists figure that all out," Chester answered, as he had taken the role of a spokes person for the former slaves, "What we need is a place to live where we will not be caught and experimented on further and where we can be close to our families."

"We were wondering, could we stay here with you?" a female Siamese Cat mutate questioned.

Arthur and Macbeth exchanged glances. The gargoyle clan, while they did not require an extreme amount of food, at a fair sum of food, and Rachel for three nights would be ravenous. They simply didn't have the ability to feed and house so many mutates at once.

"Well," Arthur began, "I assure you that we will do the best that we can, but I'm afraid that Macbeth and I do not have the funds to adequately feed you all."

"And this mansion is not large enough to house all of you for very long," Macbeth added.

Most, if not all, of the gathered mutates began to look very depressed.

"There's got to be something you can do," the bulldog mutate said in a demanding voice.

"I do not have the money to pay for food for all of you," Arthur answered, "I've largely been living off the money I earn as a Private Investigator. With taxes, food for myself, the London Clan, and Merlin and Rachel Winters, I simply do not have the money to afford to feed you for long."

"What about you, Macbeth?" Chester asked, "If you're really an immortal king, shouldn't you have enough?"

"At present, I do," Macbeth answered, "But I do not live on a king's salary. The fortune I have has come from saving every bit that I could for hundreds of years. There will come a time when my fortune no longer exists."

"Do you have to be so cheap that you won't help us!" the bulldog mutate roared, bringing an electrical charge to his fists.

Octavia and Julia tensed for an attack, while the new Avalon gargoyles took a step back. Griff and Chloe meanwhile looked on in surprise. One or two other mutates moved to calm the large bulldog mutate.

"They never said they wouldn't help you," Griff answered.

"We need money and a place to stay," the bulldog mutate growled, "And your friends just said they wouldn't give us either!"

"They said that they couldn't let you live here or pay for your own meals," Julia countered, "That you would stretch their own funds beyond the breaking point, and then all of us would in need of a place to stay."

"We are quite willing to let you stay for a short while, while we look for a more suitable home for all of you," Arthur added.

"I'm not living in a sewer," the bulldog mutate grumbled.

"That may not be possible," Griff answered, "Living in a sewer. London doesn't have any sort of underground structures like 'the Labyrinth' that is in New York."

"There are subways," Chester spoke up.

"They are busy and you would be spotted," Griff pointed out, "Remember that the 'Labyrinth' was an abandoned research facility."

"So where can we go?" a female basset hound mutate whimpered.

Macbeth meanwhile had been scratching his beard, and had come up with an idea.

"If I may, there may be a rather simple solution to your problem," Macbeth spoke up.

"We'll take any help we can get," Chester answered.

"It could be possible for me to purchase a warehouse for you all to operate a homeless shelter from," Macbeth answered, "I will have to fund you for a while, but in time, the government will provide you with the financial aid that you will need."

"What about the food?" Chester asked.

"Count yourselves among those that you are feeding," Macbeth answered, "Once the government deems that you qualify for aid, they will provide you with most of what you need."

"What about making sure that the government doesn't find us?" the bulldog mutate growled, "Or have you even thought that far?"

"I'll need to prove that I own the building, and be present for their inspections," Macbeth answered, "Much the same way Owen Burnett currently does for Mr. Xanatos at the Labyrinth."

"You could do that?" Chester asked.

"It would be the least we could do," Arthur answered.

**Elsewhere**

Agent Anglo sat quietly with Jeremy Irons standing behind him as Lucius and his followers slowly followed the reconnaissance drone into the office.

"Welcome, Lucius," Agent Anglo spoke in a calm voice.

Lucius looked at the man with a slightly surprised look on his face.

"You may call me Agent Anglo," Anglo spoke, "I suppose you would like to know why I've had you brought here."

"A Jeremy Irons was the one who spoke through the robot," Lucius answered, his followers silent.

"Mr. Irons is one of the men in my employ," Agent Anglo replied, "I told him to contact you."

Lucius nodded.

"Anyway, I am to understand that you and your group are involved in a little 'duel' with Arthur Pendragon?" Agent Anglo questioned, "Alias, Arthur Dragon."

"How do you know?" Lucius demanded.

"I am an agent of a powerful global organization," Agent Anglo answered, "Mr. Pendragon currently is a key figure to several prophecies concerning the future of this island. Prophecies that conflict with those of our Master."

'And who is your 'Master' and what is this organization?" Lucius demanded.

"My 'Master' is to remain anonymous, but I can tell you the name of the organization," Agent Anglo answered, "The Illuminati."

"You make light bulbs?" Lucius asked.

"We rule the world," Agent Anglo commented.

"What?!" Lucius gasped.

"Oh, not in the way you're thinking," Agent Anglo replied, "We're not dictators. We are merely advisors to those who are 'officially' in power."

"Oh," Lucius answered.

"Pendragon's presence on this island threatens to undo a prophecy made by our Master concerning its future," Anglo explained, "A great crisis is coming. Our Master has said that WE would be the ones to stop it. Various sorcerers over the years, however, have predicted that Pendragon will save Britain."

"Pendragon is more of a danger to Britain then he is a help," Lucius grumbled, mostly to himself.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Anglo answered, "We also wish Pendragon dead. We could capture him yes, but why leave anything to chance? No Pendragon, and our Master's prophecy is fulfilled."

"Are you asking me for help?" Lucius questioned.

"We find it would be for everyone's best interest that we aided one another," Anglo answered, "You oppose Pendragon, we oppose Pendragon. You have the muscle, we have the funding."

Lucius stood patiently.

"We will provide you with whatever you need to rid the world of Arthur Pendragon," Anglo spoke, "And we will all get what we want."

"And what will you do to help me?" Lucius asked, "Because if all you're offering is Pendragon's death, then you'll be disappointed, because I would have done that on my own."

"And what do you want?" Anglo asked with a sigh.

"Power," Lucius said with a touch of desire in his voice, "I want the world!"

"Help us kill Pendragon," Anglo spoke, betraying no emotion, "And we'll see what we can do to help you with that."

"Deal," Lucius answered and shook Agent Anglo's hand.

**The End…**


	11. The Warrior, the Wizard, and the Wolf

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "In Need of Help".

The Warrior, the Wizard, and the Wolf

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Sapporo, Japan**

"I'm glad your magic allows us to understand Japanese," Rachel commented as she set her bags down on a moderately sized bed of the hotel room that she and Merlin had received.

"So am I," Merlin nodded, "Japanese was not one of the languages that I had time to learn over the past couple thousand years."

"I find that hard to believe," Rachel said in a disbelieving tone, "You've even said that you continued to work for England/Britain's Kings and Queens even after you served Arthur. Wouldn't at least one of them sent you to Japan as an ambassador or something?"

"I never disguised myself as any of Britain's foreign ambassadors," Merlin answered, "And I never rose to be a real help to the early Saxon kings because many remembered my help to Arthur and the early Norman kings because of my help to the Saxons. After Richard I, I was largely a butler or steward."

"That's too bad," Rachel answered, "So, how long will we be here?"

"Hopefully at least one night," Merlin answered, "Tomorrow we can see about getting a boat to South Korea."

Rachel nodded and let Merlin proceed into the bathroom to change into his sleepwear and let Rachel change into hers.

Outside, a well dressed Japanese businessman looked over at the hotel building that Rachel and Merlin had entered a few minutes earlier. He then pulled out a small cellphone and dialed a number. After a few moments he received his answer.

"Hello," the man said in a somewhat hushed voice, "this is to tell you that the Wizard and the Wolf have entered their hotel. They are in Sapporo."

"Thank you for you help," a voice on the other end answered, "Fortune will smile on you."

**Tokyo**

On the outside it appeared like a normal business office. What it was, in reality, was an office for the Illuminati in Japan. Four men sat around a table and looked very serious about their business.

"The Council has tasked us with capturing or killing this Merlin and his werewolf companion," the first man spoke, "We must not fail the council."

"What shall we do against a wizard that the westerners hold as the greatest of all wizards?" the second man questioned, "Unlike the European and American branches, our branch of the Illuminati is not blessed with men who will build great technological weapons that can help us."

"That is because the Council let our branch have that through the first half of the twentieth Century, and that earned us two atomic bomb blasts," the first man answered, "Now we have something that will be much more effective."

"Surely you don't mean Usagi?" the fourth man asked, "The man has been kept asleep since the Middle Ages."

"He wasn't even a Samurai in his day," the third man answered, "What good could he do against a modern day wizard and werewolf."

"Merlin is Medieval and the werewolf will be expecting a man with a gun," the first man answered, "Not a warrior as skilled as the old legends of Usagi say he was."

**Southeastern Honshu, 1274**

Forces of the Kamakura shogunate dove down on the small forces of attacking Mongols that had managed to escape the kamikaze that had destroyed much of their invading fleet in the ocean. Several mounted samurai urged their soldiers to move forward as they charged on horseback toward the Mongol lines.

One of these soldiers was a young nobleman named Usagi. He was too young to really be considered to gain the rank of samurai, and even that didn't matter as the samurai for his region was still alive and healthy. This hadn't stopped him from study and practice. His family and the samurai's family had been close friends and he now served his samurai as a body guard, although his master's horse easily outran him. His master plunged through the Mongol lines quickly and with relative ease and soon joined the other samurai in dealing with the Mongol cavalry.

"Come on!" Usagi urged as he reached the semi-broken line of Mongol infantry.

One of the Mongol soldiers thrust a long spear out at Usagi, who dove to a side and in quick swing of his katana, cut the point of the spear off from the rest of the lance. The Mongol then began to back off when Usagi struck again bringing his weapon down upon the invader's helmet and head, cutting the helmet in two and digging enough into the Mongol's skull to kill him.

Two Mongol swordsmen the rushed toward Usagi as the Japanese infantry began to destroy the Mongol spearmen. Usagi kicked one to the ground and blocked the other's attack with his own sword. The sword fight was brief, as after years of training, a tired Mongol who was on the defensive in a foreign land was no match for Usagi. But, as Usagi finished off the Mongol swordsman, he saw his samurai in trouble. He was surrounded by infantrymen and dealing with one Mongol cavalryman. His horse kicked a few of the infantrymen away, but his samurai couldn't beat them all.

"NO!" Usagi screamed and charged headlong toward the fight.

He first came upon an infantryman and he beaded him in a swift swing of his sword. He kicked another two as they tried to turn and face him, and landed a slash across another infantryman's back, who had not yet turned. Usagi then felt a stinging pain through his left shoulder. He looked over to see that Mongol cavalryman had stabbed the weapon through his protective armor and through his shoulder. He heard his samurai scream something as he lost consciousness.

It was dark when Usagi awoke to find himself in his samurai's home, being attended to by various helpers.

"Where am I?" Usagi asked.

"You are in my home," came the voice of his samurai from behind him.

He looked over to see his samurai standing there.

"Did we win?" Usagi asked.

"Yes," his samurai smiled, "the Mongols that ravaged China could not defeat our power. And particularly you."

"Me?" Usagi asked.

"Yes," the samurai answered, "Those who dishonored themselves by surrendering said they were afraid of you. It is a great honor."

"Thank you," Usagi said while seated.

The samurai was about say more when there was great commotion coming from outside the room as several priests broke into the room. The samurai was rather annoyed and looked on them with some frustration.

"What is it?" the samurai demanded.

The lead priest stepped forward with a very nervous look on his face.

"I have had a vision my lord," the priest said nervously.

"What did you see?" the samurai asked.

"An invasion," the priest answered.

"We've just defeated it," the samurai interrupted, "Your vision is too late."

"It was not of Mongols," the priest protested, "Let me explain."

The samurai sighed but nodded.

"First there will come two great explosions on our cities that will wipe them from the face of the Earth," the priest said slowly, "Then pale skinned men in green clothes will land from the south."

"The south?" the samurai asked, "The closest land mass is to the east."

"These invaders were not Asian," the priest answered, "A race of ghosts live to the west and south of us."

"When will these invaders come?" the samurai asked.

"In six hundred, seventy one years," the priest answered.

"That far in the future?" the samurai questioned.

"Yes," the priest nodded, "Now there is a spell that we can use that will allow you to sleep until then, so that your strength may defeat these pale invaders…"

"I can not sleep six hundred, seventy one years and govern my lands at the same time," the samurai protested, "And I would be abandoning my duties to the Shogun."

"But it must be a member of your house, of which you are the only one," the priest argued, "Otherwise the spell won't work."

"Would a servant work for this spell?" Usagi asked from his bed.

"It must be the samurai or a member of his family," the priest answered.

"You would do this task for me?" the samurai asked Usagi, "Even after you're being wounded."

"I live to serve my samurai," Usagi answered.

"Can adoption count?" the samurai asked.

The priests talked among themselves for a few moments and then nodded.

"Barely," the first priest said in a weak voice.

"Then I adopt Usagi as my son," the samurai answered, "He is a greater warrior then I will be, and will be better suited to defeating these demons."

"Very well," the priests acknowledged.

**1950**

A grey haired old man lead two well dressed business men through the ruins of an old manner from Japan's medieval period that was in serious need of service.

"I am surprised you wish to tour this place," the old man answered, "Ever since the 1300s this dwelling has been abandoned and cared for little."

"General MacArthur has wished that these old places be restored so that we have something to remember about our past," the first man answered.

"I doubt the General would be interested in this place given the trouble in Korea," the old man answered.

"Never the less, we wish to see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it," the second man said.

"Very well," the man sighed, "That was the grand tour. I'll leave the two of you to your investigation."

The old man then left, leaving the two men standing alone in what had once been a great mansion of medieval Japanese samurai.

"Will the parchment work?" the first man asked.

"It should," the second man answered, "If done correctly. The priests that held it were killed in 1941 in the Doolittle Raid. Why they toured the factories I do not know."

"And how will this man help us now?" the first questioned, "He's obviously slept longer then his intended purpose."

"True," the second nodded, "But he can help the Council. And he won't be awakened today, but when we need him."

"Very well," the first nodded.

**Present Day, Tokyo**

The four men descended down a carefully hidden flight of stairs to a special compartment where the sleeping body of Usagi lay asleep. Ancient parchments that the monks had left behind lay on top of the sleeping man. The first man carefully picked up the parchment as the others moved to stand around the long couch that Usagi lay on.

"Repeat after me," the first man instructed and began reading the parchment aloud.

The other men slowly repeated after the lead man as he read from the parchment. Once he had finished, the parchment took on a bright green glow, which then moved to the sleeping form of Usagi. Once the glow died down, Usagi's eyes slowly opened. Once awake the man sat up quickly, as if looking for a weapon.

"Where am I?" Usagi asked, "This is not my samurai's house!"

"You are in Tokyo," the first man said in a calm voice, "You have no need to be afraid."

Usagi swiped at the second man with one fist and then kicked the other two, and leaped over the couch to push the first man against the far wall.

"Why am I not in my samurai's house?" Usagi demanded.

"Your samurai's home was vacated almost a hundred years after you were put to sleep," the first man choked out, "You were moved here shortly after. It is time for you to be awake again."

"What two cities were destroyed?" Usagi asked, sounding pained, and remembering the words of the priests.

"Unfortunately the time that you were needed for was not the vision that your priests saw," the first man answered, "The invasion by the pale ones did occur, but it was done to overthrow an evil tyrant. Once he was gone, rule was restored to righteous people of Japan."

"Foreigners came here to fight evil?" Usagi asked, "But Japan is the most righteous nation in the world!"

"Not at the time of the pale invasion," the first man answered, "But I can explain more of that to you later. But now there is a more important matter. A second invasion by pale men."

"A second invasion?" Usagi asked.

"Yes," the first man nodded, "A man capable of doing powerful magic and a woman with the ability to turn herself into a wolf have landed and intend to wreck havoc amongst our people."

"I must stop them then," Usagi vowed, "I need a sword and armor. Where are they now?"

"In the north, in a city called Sapporo," the first man answered as he motioned for the other men to gather what Usagi would need, "We have some magics that can help you hide from the people who the evil wizard has brainwashed, but nothing that can directly stop him. Thankfully, your armor has been strengthened. The wolf can not bite or claw through it and the wizard's magic will have no effect on it."

"You have been most helpful," Usagi answered as he began to put on his armor, "When I have defeated this threat, you must tell me about the new world I've been awakened in."

"Of course," the first man nodded, "We will provide you with transport to Sapporo."

**Sapporo, Dawn**

Rachel stretched in her bed with a slight yawn at about the same time that sun would normally rise from the east, and while she didn't expect to see much sunlight entering their room, as all their windows were on the western side, she didn't quite expect to see what she saw. A thick fog blanketed everything. The room was almost as dark as it was at midnight because of the fog. Rachel closed her eyes and when they opened again, they had become their golden color when in her wolf form, but did not allow herself to change any further. That didn't help her much. The fog was still thick.

"Merlin," Rachel spoke, "Merlin, you need to get up!"

"What?" Merlin asked as he sat up and then looked out the window and saw the thick fog, "What the devil?"

"It's incredibly thick," Rachel answered, "Even with my 'wolf eyes' I can't see much."

Merlin slowly got up and walked over to the window. After a few moments he shuddered.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"This fog," Merlin answered, "It's tinged with magic. A sorcerer has created this."

"I can hear car horns going off below us," Rachel answered, "We've got to undo this."

"I'd need to know the original spell," Merlin answered, "And right now we don't know who cast it."

Rachel sighed and stepped over to her bag and pulled out her jumpsuit, a coat of brown fur already growing out of her skin.

"Then it's time we did some looking," Rachel answered through growing teeth.

Rachel and Merlin appeared in a flash of green light on the roof of the hotel. Merlin, actually floated in the air, while Rachel gripped the roof with her claws. She sniffed the air periodically trying to see if she could pick up anything. She could pick up human scents and the smell of car exhaust and some signs of spilt gasoline, which indicated there had been at least one major accident that had occurred.

"This fog has may have already killed someone," Rachel spoke, "I smell gas."

Merlin sighed and focused his powers, trying to see if he could sense any magical signature besides Rachel's and his own. After a few moments, he turned to the north before speaking again.

"The magician that caused this has to be to the north, about half a mile away," Merlin explained.

Rachel nodded, and turned and ran on all fours along the rooftop, once she saw that she was reaching the edge, she leaped, hoping it was enough to reach the next roof. It was nearly too much as the next building was at least one floor shorter then the hotel. Before she could try and look for the next building, Merlin came up to her and kept her from leaping again.

"I'll carry you through my magic," Merlin spoke, "I can at least use my magic to judge where the next building is so we don't jump into it or over it."

Rachel nodded.

Usagi felt awkward as he looked out into the fog that the priest had created to hide him from the wizard's enslaved soldiers. He had expected to be hunting the ones that had invaded Japan, but he could barely see anything through the fog.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Usagi asked the priest with him, "With this fog, a wizard and a kitsune would surely have the advantage."

"She is a werewolf, actually," the priest answered, "Kitsune are fox-like and usually have multiple tails. She is wolf-like and like all of her kind has one tail. And do not concern yourself with the fog. Once they arrive within the park, your eyesight will improve to the point where this fog will be like a clear pane of glass."

Usagi sighed and nodded. Even still he did not like waiting.

"I do not like this waiting," Usagi spoke, "We should be looking for this wizard and his wolf."

"That would only lead us into a trap of his choosing," the priest said from behind him, "He has no honor."

"Then wouldn't he send all his followers into the park?" Usagi asked, "Overwhelm us with sheer strength of numbers rather then face us one on one?"

At that moment a brown furred female wolf-like creature and a middle aged man with a white beard appeared in front of Usagi and the priest.

"There's something you don't see everyday," Rachel commented as she noted Usagi, "What is that?"

"Medieval Japanese Armor," Merlin answered.

"You are the creatures that invade my homeland!" Usagi said in a challenging voice, "I challenge you to a duel to the death!"

"A duel?" Rachel asked, "You can't be serious. Dueling has gone out of style."

"You are invading my country!" Usagi accused, "We will duel."

He then lunged at Rachel with his katana ready to kill her. The werewolf out of instinct backed away as he slashed at her neck, curiously sniffing the air.

"Invading?" Rachel questioned as Usagi kicked her in the stomach knocking her to the ground, "We aren't invading anyone."

Rachel then rolled to avoid being hit by the sword. She could smell some silver in the metal and didn't want to know what being slashed by it would do. Usagi remained determined to try and kill her, and Rachel continued to back away, trying to figure him out. Merlin meanwhile watched this battle begin and then turned back to the priest.

"I am to presume you've started this fog?" Merlin questioned.

"Indeed I have, Merlin," the priest answered, "The Council does not want you helping Pendragon, and our branch will succeed where the others have failed."

"Do you realize how many people have been killed or hurt because of your plans?" Merlin questioned.

"That does not matter," the priest replied, "All deaths and injuries will be blamed on you, and when Usagi kills you and your pet, you will not be able to defend yourself."

Merlin fired a lightning spell and knocked the man back against a nearby tree. Merlin then slowly approached the priest as he struggled to try and get up.

"Now, you will undo your spell," Merlin commanded, "Free the people that you've trapped in this fog, Illuminatus."

"How dare you speak to a priest that way!" Usagi roared from behind Merlin as he had abandoned his attempts to kill the werewolf, as it didn't seem to want to fight, when he saw Merlin attack the priest.

Merlin dodged the attack.

"I don't know what you've been told, sir," Merlin said in calm voice, "But I highly doubt that man has any TRUE allegiance to any order of priests in Japan. He is a member of the Illuminati Society."

Usagi attempted to strike at Merlin again, but found that the wizard had shielded himself with his magic.

"They covertly control the world and while they are not truly 'evil' they are not 'good' either," Merlin continued, "My companion and I have done nothing. The Illuminati however believe that a protégé of mine should not fight to protect his own island in what is likely to be the near future."

"Lies, Usagi!" the priest roared, "He is trying to deceive you! He wants to conquer Japan!"

Usagi lifted his sword again, but never got a chance to lower it as Rachel reappeared and leaped over Merlin's shield and tackled Usagi to the ground. Swallowing deeply she then grabbed Usagi's sword and tried to get it out of his grip. The silver in the blade burned her paw heavily and Rachel roared with pain, and the blade itself also cut into her fingers. Usagi, however, couldn't match her strength and Rachel easily pulled the sword out of his hand then the broke it, making it useless.

"Merlin doesn't lie," Rachel spoke to the man, "We've done nothing, and this fog your friend has conjured up has at least hurt someone. I can smell gasoline throughout this city. Spilt gasoline. That means at least two cars have crashed into each other in various parts of this city. People are hurt because of your friend."

Usagi kneed Rachel in the stomach and then issued an open palmed punch to the side of Rachel's face. The blow was far more powerful then Rachel anticipated and knocked her off Usagi.

"If you hadn't enslaved them, then the fog wouldn't be necessary!" Usagi said.

Usagi then ran forward, intending to fight Rachel in hand to hand combat when he was suddenly lifted into the air by a light blue light.

"We haven't enslaved anyone," Merlin said, "The Illuminatus has deceived you."

"We don't even know who you are, so don't think we're personally out to get you, either," Rachel added, "Right now, all we want to do is get rid of this fog and let everything return to normal."

"I am called Usagi," Usagi answered, "And I serve the Kamakura shogunate. That is all that I will tell you."

"That shogunate ended, years ago," Merlin told him, "Many years ago. The people that awakened you are Illuminati, which didn't have any connections to Asia, let alone Japan until 1600s."

Usagi looked down at both Merlin and Rachel with a great deal of confusion. He had been told that they wanted to conquer Japan and lacked any knowledge of honor or bushido, which he had been training to follow under his samurai. But while Rachel dead appear fearsome, she also seemed to look intelligent and was not snarling madly, but had more of a look of confusion as to why everything was going on. Merlin's face looked determined, but there was no sign of any evil in its appearance. Usagi swore he could also see wisdom in the pale man's eyes.

"But the priest…" Usagi began.

They all looked to where the priest had been earlier. He was now gone.

"Where did he go?" Rachel asked, her pointed ears shooting straight up.

"He must have run when you broke Mr. Usagi's sword and I caught him with my magic," Merlin sighed and turned his face back to Usagi, "Do you know the spell he used to cause this fog?"

"Why?" Usagi asked.

"Because if I don't know the exact spell he used, it would be dangerous to try and get rid of this fog through magic, and it will take too long for nature to clear it," Merlin answered.

"Why does this fog concern you?" Usagi asked, "You've already caught me."

"Because the fog has this city in its grasp," Merlin answered, "And people have either been hurt or killed."

Merlin then turned to where the priest had been and could barely make out Rachel's form, sniffing around.

"I think I can track him," Rachel answered, "I will have to risk exposure, but I don't see any other course."

"I'll come with you," Usagi said, "I have many questions, both for him and for you."

"We'll try to answer them as best we can, but I doubt the priest will give you any real answers."

Merlin then set Usagi down and the two began follow Rachel as she moved slowly on all fours tracking the priest's scent. The trip was long and slow as the priest made several twists and turns that they had to follow. He had fled out of the park and into a small residential area.

"I don't like this," Rachel growled, "All these houses. Some kid could see me."

"I can barely see you and you're no more then five feet away," Usagi spoke.

"Well, I don't want to be shot by anybody," Rachel answered and then turned her head to follow the priest's scent, which now lead into a nearby building, "He went in there."

They turned to see a rather plain looking door. Merlin checked it carefully, as the last thing they wanted to do was to attract attention by breaking the door in.

"No Iron," Merlin commented, "Good."

With a slow wave of his hand, Merlin opened the door through magic and let Rachel resume her tracking of the priest. She slowly padded to the center of the entrance way and then stopped. She then tapped the floor with one of her knuckles, ears twitching.

"The floor is hollow," Rachel reported.

Below them in an underground base the priest faced against the man who had awakened Usagi.

"You were supposed to insure that he believed that Merlin and the werewolf were attacking Japan," the man said sternly.

"I tried, sir," the priest whimpered, "But neither Merlin nor the werewolf had any real intention of fighting him. Their tactics were more defensive and to try and find out what was going on."

"You have failed us!" the man said sternly.

The priest had no room to answer as a new voice spoke in an extremely angry tone behind him.

"You LIED to me!" Usagi yelled at the screen.

The priest turned to see Rachel crouching a few feet away, jaws clenched teeth bared and a low growl escaping her lips. Merlin and Usagi stood behind her.

"These people are not the threat to Japan!" Usagi yelled at the screen, "YOU are!"

"Neither of us are threats to Japan," the man answered with little sign of emotion, "Merlin and his friend, however pose a threat to the Illuminati Society. It is through that Society that the world is run, and without it, we will have chaos. Now in Merlin's world of the West, there is prophesy concerning a boy who studied under him to become 'King of all Britain'. That prophesy counteracts prophesies that were laid down by the Illuminati's founder. If his prophesies fail then the world will have chaos because the Illuminati will no longer be there to maintain order."

"And killing Merlin is the honorable way to fix this?" Usagi demanded.

"The most practical," the man corrected, "I'm sorry it came down to all this."

The screen then went dead, leaving the priest alone and frightened. Rachel slowly advanced on him, snarling. She took one paw and pulled him to the ground and held him there. She then brought her muzzle up to the priest's face.

"Give Merlin the spell," Rachel ordered.

The priest nearly wet himself at the sight of Rachel's fangs right in front of him.

"He must say in Japanese, 'may the skies clear, so that people may walk, with no fear'," the priest choked out.

Rachel took her weight off of him and looked back to Merlin, "What do we do with him?"

"Kill him," Usagi spoke, "He has dishonored himself through his actions and endangering his own people. He does not have the right to live."

"Unfortunately, Usagi, that code of behavior is banned among all civilized peoples," Merlin countered, "he is unarmed and defeated. I will not allow him to die, especially when there is always a more fitting punishment."

"Like what?" Usagi asked.

"We can't let him return to the Illuminati," Merlin sighed, "They would only send him after you now. The only way is to remove his memory or at least give him a sense of duty to something else that he would never return to his current masters."

"You could do that?" Usagi asked.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "Seeing as he is disguised as a priest right now, I will leave him with only the memories of being a priest and nothing else."

**Rachel and Merlin's Hotel, One Hour Later**

Usagi looked himself over in a business suit that Merlin had provided him from his suitcase and then looked at the suitcase that held his armor and a newly created sword. He had thanked Merlin for his generosity. He turned around to see Merlin and Rachel, now back in her human form, seated on the bed behind him.

"And this gargoyle named 'Kai' knows bushido?" Usagi asked.

"From what Yama told us in our brief meeting with him, we were quite certain that the Ishimuran gargoyles understand the term," Merlin answered, "They can help you more then I can."

"I thank you," Usagi said with a bow.

Merlin nodded, "What questions do you have?"

"When I was put to sleep, I was told of a great calamity that would befall Japan," Usagi explained, "I was put to sleep to try and prevent it, or at least stop the second part of what my priests saw."

"What did they see?" Rachel asked.

"They had a vision that two cities would explode, and then pale men would land on Japan," Usagi explained.

"Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Merlin mumbled.

"What?" Usagi asked.

"This will be a bit of a history lesson, so please be patient and do not interrupt," Merlin said slowly, "From what you have told us, you have come from Japan's medieval period. When that period ended, Japan was unified behind an Emperor who reigned from a city named Edo, now Tokyo. Japan would remain at that level of technological advancement until the eighteen hundreds, when an American naval commander ordered Japan to open its borders to the West. They did so, and by the twentieth Century were the most advanced nation in Asia. Unfortunately, they also picked up some of the more negative aspects of Western culture, a lust for conquest. In the 1930s they would begin a large scale attempt to conquer the world, by first conquering China."

Usagi gasped at this as Merlin continued.

"By 1941, they realized that only way that they could secure their conquests was to gain raw materials in areas controlled by the Dutch and the United States in the southern portions of the Pacific Ocean," Merlin continued, "And on December 7 of that year they attacked the American Pacific fleet by surprise and destroyed it at anchor…"

"Didn't they issue a warning?" Usagi asked, "Bushido demands a warning before any attack. To attack a man when his back is turned is dishonorable."

"There was a warning delivered, but by the time it was decoded, the attack was already an hour old," Merlin answered, "This act led to war between the United States and the Japanese Empire. By 1945, the Americans had driven Japan back to their home islands and held the island of Okinawa, from which they intended to launch the final invasion. Japan, in the previous Battle for Okinawalaunched the largest kamikaze attack of the war in an attempt to destroy the American invasion fleet, citing great storms in your time, which stopped the Mongols, as their source for victory. In the end, the Americans won the battle, but took heavy casualties. To prevent further loses, they unleashed a weapon that was new to their arsenal. The atomic bomb. One bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and a few days later, a second was dropped on Nagasaki."

Usagi nearly fainted.

"Fearing the Americans had more and seeing that the two bombs destroyed the cities they were dropped on, the Emperor surrendered," Merlin continued, "American troops did land on Japan, but the purpose was largely ceremonial to commemorate the true end to the war. The Americans let the Emperor keep his throne, but occupied the country until the 1950s. Japan has since banned any military force that could conceivably be used to attack other countries and is heavily dependent on the US for protection, but economically, it is one of Asia's great leaders."

"We were conquered but they didn't rule over us?" Usagi asked.

"No," Merlin answered, "The world you've woken up in is much more complex then the world you remember."

"And these Illuminati?" Usagi asked.

"As that man said before he turned of the communications screen, they aren't a threat to Japan, but they as an organization are not one to be easily trusted," Merlin sighed, "Partially because if you do get rid of them, some chaos is likely to occur because their covert running of world politics is so intertwined with what non Illuminati connected politics has produced that removing them will cause those who aren't Illuminati members to fall with them."

"Things are more complex," Usagi answered, "I do not suppose you could send me back to my time?"

Merlin shook his head.

"What will you do now?" Usagi asked.

"Rachel and I are headed for Tibet," Merlin sighed, "We believe that something is happening there that will help us figure out something that will help us save the island that we are from."

"I wish you the best of luck," Usagi said.

"Thank you," Merlin nodded.

**The End**


	12. Dark Magic

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place four days after "The Warrior, the Wizard, and the Wolf".

Dark Magic

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London, Late Night**

A young couple slowly made their way along one of London's quieter streets. The sound of car horns was still very audible, but they weren't blaring. The two talked peacefully about their life and what had happened in it so far. Then suddenly as they rounded a corner they were stopped short by something they didn't expect to see. It appeared to be a great creature covered in dark fur and glowing red eyes.

"Give me your money," the creature demanded in a voice that sounded as if it was being faked just to sound scary.

Both the man and the woman dropped their wallet and purse on the ground and then ran, terrified. Neither looked back to see the creature fade away into nothing and then to see a man in very dark clothes walk out from behind an alley way.

"All too easy," the man smiled as he picked up both the discarded items.

**Macbeth's Mansion, Next Morning**

"Not again," Macbeth mumbled as put down the morning Times.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"London is beginning to face a crime wave that is becoming truly weird," Macbeth grumbled handing Arthur the paper, "Some 'creature' robbed at least a dozen people last night."

"A dozen?" Arthur questioned with disbelief, "Griff said the night was very quiet last night."

"He, Octavia, and Julia were the only ones who patrolled last night," Macbeth answered, "They probably missed it."

Arthur only sighed and began to read the article.

"We've got to stop this thing," Arthur said as he read the article, "Before it harms someone."

"It might be wise to ask our present guests to help find this creature," Macbeth commented, "The clan is too small to adequately cover the city to find a creature that appears to be so reclusive."

"I'm not entirely sure they'd want to," Arthur sighed, "I mean we've mostly been trying to get a warehouse that they can operate as a shelter. None have expressed any interest in monster hunting."

"Monster what?" a voice asked from behind them.

Arthur and Macbeth looked over to see the leader of the English mutates that had escaped the Unseelies, Chester. Macbeth and Arthur had been trying to purchase a warehouse that was no longer in use, but there were few, and of them, they were all condemned, which would mean major reconstruction. While Arthur and Macbeth worked to try and get their 'shelter' set up, Chester and his group remained in the mansion, and largely seemed to try and stay out of everybody's way. The one bulldog mutate was slightly confrontational if you ran into him, but even he didn't go around looking for a fight.

"Apparently London is looking a supernatural crime wave," Arthur sighed, "Some creature robbed a dozen people last night."

"Which makes more then three dozen in the past four nights," Macbeth added.

"And your clan hasn't found this creature?" Chester asked.

Arthur shook his head, "The clan has reported very quiet nights. No sign of any Illuminati activity that would be termed as action against me and there has still been no sign of Lucius."

"You don't suppose this thing could BE Lucius, do you?" Chester asked as he sat down.

"I had thought that at first," Arthur sighed, "But the reports indicate that this creature is wingless and the Illuminati were that we have locked up told us that there are no weres in London, other himself and Rachel when she returns."

"I take it you want me and the others to help you find this creature?" Chester asked.

"We can't let this thing run around London and harm someone," Arthur answered, "Especially if it is supernatural. It may only be robbing people right now, but that won't necessarily stop it from deciding to go after people for food or to maim them. And when that happens, and the creature is supernatural, we will have bigger problems."

"I understand," Chester answered, "But you do understand that I and the others were never trained to fight. We wouldn't last very long against something that is either fearsome or well trained."

Both Arthur and Macbeth nodded with a sigh.

"Our problem, however, is numbers," Arthur sighed, "The London Clan is too small to adequately patrol a city of this size and catch everything. They stop a lot of crimes that the police might miss, but they can't get everything. If you and the other mutates help us, we might at least be able to find this thing."

"The creature also appears to lack any long range weapon," Macbeth added, "If you're concerned about not being able to fight it at close quarters, you might be able to use your electric blasts against it at long range. Although, then you'll need to make sure you don't hit a bystander."

"You wouldn't mind if I talked with the others about this?" Chester asked, "Would you?"

Arthur shook his head, "It wouldn't be wise to go looking for this thing until after the gargoyles awaken, which will be after dusk."

"And I need to leave for work soon," Macbeth sighed, "So there is no real rush at this moment."

"Thank you," Chester answered and then left.

**Basement Apartment**

"Our little illusion is making us quite the pretty purse of money," a woman, who was wearing a dog collar with moderately sized spikes, spoke, "And everyone thinks it's a creature."

The only other person in the room, a man in black clothing nodded in agreement.

"Everything is working perfectly, Bett," the man smiled, "I'm telling you this will work a lot better then anything the old gang did."

"Not to mention that since those weirdoes from Soho have decided to play 'hero', our old gang's been beaten and arrested almost every night," Bett, whose full name was Betty, but it was not a name she used, nodded, "It's a good thin that were into this sort of hocus pocus."

"Very good," the man nodded as he began counting some of the money that they had collected during the night.

"What do you suppose we should do when those Soho weirdoes intervene?" Bett asked.

"I don't believe they'll ever get the chance," the man answered, "Besides, even if they see our creature, they won't see us."

"Maybe," Bett replied, "But they always get involved. They got involved with everything our gang tried. And our gang usually lost."

"Yes, but our gang generally tried to fight with those things," the man said, "I don't know where those people got those costumes, but they can fly with them and they are excellent brawlers. Let them fight our creature, instead of us."

"And if they find us?" Bett questioned.

"We better see about a gun," the man shrugged.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Arthur was surprised as he heard the doorbell ring. Knowing that it was probably a client, he sighed. With this creature robbing people at night, the last thing he needed at the moment was to deal with a new case. He found no sign of any of the mutates as he walked toward the door, and hoped that they were either on one of the upper floors or in the basement. Arthur opened the door to see an older man standing there.

"Are you Arthur Dragon?" the man asked.

"Yes, come in," Arthur said politely, "How may I help you?"

"I trust you've read this morning's newspaper?" the man asked.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "Primarily the article about this creature that's been out robbing people."

"That is why I'm here," the man sighed, "My name is Albert Goodwill. I want you to deal with this thing."

Arthur blinked at the situation. The man was hiring him to deal with these robberies.

"The police are on that job," Arthur pointed out, knowing full well that he was intending to look into it anyway.

"Yes, but they don't understand the full nature of this crisis," Albert answered, "I saw this creature the first night it appeared, and don't believe what the police say. It is not simply some human in costume."

Arthur pretended surprise at this. He had already assumed that it wasn't a man in costume, but he couldn't make it seem like he was already going to investigate the issue.

"It isn't?" Arthur asked, "Please come where we can sit down, and tell me more."

The two then walked slowly to kitchen and Arthur let Albert sit down opposite him. Once Arthur sat down, he began to run the basic questioning, to try and figure out what Albert knew.

"So, what did you see?" Arthur asked.

"As I told you before, this creature is not human in a costume," Albert answered, "On the first night it appeared I was at home and was reading. I heard some strange screaming coming from outside my window and went to investigate."

Arthur then watched as Albert shuddered at the memory.

"What I saw was beyond comprehension," Albert continued, "It stood like the werewolves you see in the movies, and there were quite a few things that were wolf-like, but it was different."

"How so?" Arthur asked.

"Well, it had horns that came out from behind its ears and it had scales, like a reptile's, that were clearly visible," Albert answered.

Arthur carefully thought over the situation. Albert's information clarified that the creature was truly supernatural, but ruled out lycanthropy. As to what it was, Arthur wasn't sure, and without Merlin, he couldn't get any solid information. He simply continued with the basic questioning to get everything he needed.

Half an hour later, Arthur returned to the cell where the Illuminati's werewolf was being held. Merlin had specifically made sure that the walls of the room and the bars that made up the door were made of silver. Which was good because the were had chosen to remain in his wolf form almost constantly. The floor had silver in it, but the were wouldn't come in contact with it if he didn't try to tunnel out.

"Ah, the jailer returns," the werewolf chuckled, "Dinner time already?"

"Besides yourself, what other creatures do the Illuminati employ in this city?" Arthur questioned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the werewolf answered.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," Arthur growled, "This creature that has been robbing people blind. It's supernatural and given London's current population, I find it hard to believe that one of these creatures could have simply kept hidden."

"And you believe the Illuminati is hiding and controlling this creature?" the werewolf asked back.

"It has to be," Arthur said firmly.

"Some detective you are, Sherlock," the werewolf nearly laughed, "I suppose if another clan of gargoyles comes here and starts competing with your friends to save the most people, you'll think that that is another Illuminati trap."

"That is completely different matter," Arthur growled.

"Oh but it isn't," the werewolf answered, "It isn't."

"Then what is it?" Arthur demanded, "You can't get out of there, so you might as well cooperate."

"Supernatural beings can be controlled by anyone who knows magic, or through reason if you're either another supernatural being, or understand the creature's 'language'," the werewolf answered, "The Illuminati has had a history of controlling these creatures because they have the most knowledge of magic to control them, but that does not mean that there are others. There are supernatural beings out there that the Illuminati have no control over and magicians who are not under the Illuminati's employ. Your own teacher is an example of that."

"Why are you so certain this isn't an Illuminati plot?" Arthur asked for a few moments.

The werewolf laughed and slowly approached the bars, "We already control the world. Why should we want to steal from individual citizens in a manner in which it would appear as a crime?"

Arthur sighed and slowly left, listening to the werewolf's laughter the entire way.

Meanwhile, Chester was having to deal with a much more difficult problem.

"Why are you suggesting we help in this endeavor?" the large bulldog mutate, Boris, growled.

"Because they need the help finding it," Chester pointed out, "That thing is robbing people blind."

"None of us know how to fight," a Siamese Cat mutate spoke up in a weak voice, "This monster is supposedly big and scary."

"We can still use our electric blasts against it," Chester pointed out again, "And we can glide, somewhat. All the reports on this creature indicate that it is not capable of flying."

"And suppose we hit the person that that creature is robbing?" Boris growled, "None of us have particularly good aim. You especially, Chester."

"I still think that we ought to help," Chester said, "Even if it is only to find this creature. The more people who get robbed by this thing, the more people who run the risk of ending up in the situations that we were in when Lucius and the Unseelies grabbed us."

That got a few to nod in agreement, but the vast majority of the former Unseelie slaves wanted no part in hunting down some monstrous creature. Chester sighed.

"It isn't that we don't like you as leader," Boris spoke up, "it's just that we have no skill or business getting involved."

"I'm surprised you don't want to fight this thing," Chester commented to the large bulldog mutate, "You always seem quite ready to fight on many occasions."

"I'm just blowing off steam," Boris sighed, "You know that. Actually fighting some creature that could mess us up even more then we already are, is a different story. Besides, without any training we won't be able to do much."

"Maybe it's high time we get some training then," Chester sighed, "If Macbeth and Arthur get the shelter that we're supposed to run established we'll need to look after the people we're sheltering. We don't want any criminals down there, do we?"

"Let Arthur and his group find this creature before you ask about training," a female cougar mutate spoke in a calm voice, "We don't want to overwork them."

"Right," Chester sighed, "I will be going with them though."

With that Chester slowly left.

**Dusk**

The London clan awoke to find Arthur, Macbeth, and Chester waiting for them in their sleeping room. This was an obvious sign that something was going on that was very big.

"What's going on, Arthur?" Griff asked, stepping forward.

"There's some strange creature going around robbing people," Arthur sighed, "And we are going to find it and stop it."

"A creature?" Una asked, "The same one as in the papers?"

"Supposedly," Macbeth answered, "As far as we know it can't be a man in costume."

"Why would a creature be robbing people?" Griff wondered aloud, "Wouldn't it be more interested in trying to eat the person?"

"That is what I had thought at first," Arthur sighed, "But it has apparently stuck to robbing people."

"Then we have a different problem," Una spoke up, "Griff is right, if this were just a creature, we'd have more reports of attacks then mere robbery. Someone has to be controlling this brute."

"Either way, we must stop it," Octavia spoke up, "It is a threat to the city and therefore must be stopped."

"Quite right," Macbeth nodded, "Regardless of whether or not this beast is acting on its own or if it is being controlled, it must be stopped."

Arthur nodded in agreement, "We need to know how many of you will be able to help. Chester is the only one of the mutates who will be helping us."

Lancelot and Gawain stepped forward, with Guinevere shortly behind them.

"The three of us will help," Gawain spoke.

"We will help as well," Octavia and Julia spoke in unison.

"You can always trust me, sire," Griff spoke to Arthur.

"Leo and I should open the shop," Una began, "But if this creature is being controlled, we may need to deal with a sorcerer or sorceress, so I will come along and Leo, you will have to run the shop on your own tonight."

Leo nodded, knowing what the others were up against.

"I'll even run some checks around Soho before I open the shop and after I close the shop," Leo added, "There were some reports of that creature in the area."

**Elsewhere**

"Ready for another productive night, Bett?" the man in dark clothing asked.

"Completely," Bett answered as she held up her small spell book, "Ready with our 'summoning' spell, right here."

The man then smiled and led Bett out into a nearby alley. He peaked out around a corner to check and see where the best possible target would be coming from. Bett meanwhile opened her book to the page that she had marked a few days before.

"Get ready," the man said triumphantly, "We got what looks like a corporate CEO coming."

Bett then slowly chanted the spell from the book.

**Over London**

Arthur piloted his small hover-sled through the air with Griff and Octavia close behind him. No one had anything in the way of dinner, and they were quite hopeful that they would find the creature.

"See anything?" Arthur asked.

Both gargoyles shook their heads, to which Arthur only sighed. They made a turn to head down another street when suddenly the communicator on Arthur's hoversled came to life.

"Hello, anyone there?!" came Chester's voice in a very urgent manner.

"Yes, this is Arthur," Arthur answered, "Did you find it?"

"Yes," Chester answered through the radio, "Julia, Una, and I have just found the creature we've been looking for. It just jumped some guy about a mile straight south from the mansion."

"We're on our way," Arthur answered, "Hold on."

At Chester's location while the mutate rushed to try and contact everyone in the area, Julia and Una dove down toward the creature. It was a strange creature to say the least. It looked remarkably wolf-like, but it had horns and its hands and forearms were covered in reptilian-like scales. Julia arrived at the creature first and attempted to try and knock it down while still gliding back. To the Roman gargoyle's surprise, her fist pasted straight through the creature. Almost as if it wasn't there. This made Una break off her attack and land directly in front of the man that the 'creature' was trying to rob.

"You're not going to rob me now?" the man asked nervously.

"No," Una answered, "We are like the superheroes the Yanks draw in their comic books."

"That's a costume?" the man questioned.

"A very complex one," Una answered, "We thought we could do better then simple cloth."

"Unfortunately this thing doesn't appear to be tangible," Julia growled, mostly in frustration that their attack failed to knock the creature down.

Una nodded and finished her conversation with the intended victim, "You'd best get going, sir. It isn't safe here."

The man didn't need to be told twice and was quickly off. Shortly after, the other groups arrived with Chester coming in for a landing. Arthur readied Excalibur while Macbeth readied an electric blaster.

"It is quite the beast," Chloe commented, "Why isn't it moving?"

"I don't think it's a real creature," Una commented, "Julia passed straight through it in her attempt to attack it."

Una then held up a small pendent for the others to see.

"And my pendent isn't reacting to this thing as if it were a real creature," Una finished.

"A hologram then," Macbeth commented as he came up and swiped a hand through the creature's body.

"Give me all your money," the creature said in a fake spooky voice.

"There's no projector though," Una said, "I think this is a magical illusion. Some one is using sorcery to project this image. And he or she isn't too far away."

"How do you know?" Guinevere asked as she looked around.

"Because this thing hasn't faded away," Una answered simply.

"Then he must be nearby," Macbeth commented as he looked toward a nearby alley.

Macbeth then watched as he saw a head disappear behind the corner of the building and into the alley that he had just looked toward.

"And I believe we've found where our crooks have gone," Macbeth commented and began to walk toward the alley.

"The old one spotted us," the man sighed in a frustrated manner while reaching for a gun he had bought earlier in the day.

"Let's get out of here then," Bett insisted quietly, "They got more here then either of us can shoot."

"I'm not gonna run from them anymore," the man practically snarled, "They saw through our 'creature' and now we're trapped in this alley."

"We can…" Bett began to say as Macbeth appeared in the alleyway.

"Come out you two," the immortal Scotsman ordered.

The man then fired his weapon, almost on reflex. Bett turned and ran down the alley, hoping to escape. The others were shocked and ducked down as they heard the gunshot ring out. The bullet bounced off of Macbeth's armor, but its kinetic energy did knock him to the ground.

"He's armed!" Macbeth announced and fired his electric blaster down the alley.

Chloe and Lancelot then began scaling up the side of a wall to get a better look at where the crook was without coming under fire, with Guinevere following Lancelot. The rest approached the edge of the building in an attempt to peak around the corner.

"He's got a partner who is running!" Chloe exclaimed from the rooftop as she and Lancelot spotted Bett running off.

This drew the man's fire as he attempted to fire on Chloe and Lancelot as they leaped to glide after Bett. This, however, allowed Una to step full around the corner and cast a sleep spell on the man. He was asleep before he even turned to see who was speaking. The group then began to walk down the alley and approached the unconscious man.

"At risk of pointing out the dreadfully obvious," Griff began, "I think this is our man."

Octavia nodded and picked up a small black book that was lying on the ground nearby.

"What do you suppose this is?" she asked, holding up the book.

"Let me see," Una spoke as she came closer.

Octavia handed the white unicorn-like gargoyle the book and let Una read through it. Once she was finished, Una gave short gasp of shock and nearly horror.

"It's a black magic spell book," Una said, some shock still in her voice, "It allows a spell caster to use dark magic. Very dangerous."

"Has there been any real harm done?" Arthur asked.

"From what we've seen," Una responded, "I'd doubt it, but dark magic is still dangerous. The more powerful a person is with dark magic, the greater danger they become to themselves and others."

"But he had a partner," Arthur said, "Wouldn't that have removed the risk."

"Even if the two of them did the spell together, the answer would be no," Una explained, "Thankfully the spell that he has chosen doesn't require much power."

"I think it is his partner that is responsible for casting the spell," came Chloe's voice as she and Lancelot landed with the person who had tried to flee earlier.

Chloe moved to stand near Macbeth while Lancelot moved to stand next to Guinevere. Chloe then dumped the unconscious woman down next to her partner.

"She put up a fair struggle when we caught up with her, but it was nothing serious," Chloe reported.

"Let's get these two tied up," Griff commented, "Then Arthur can call the police in to pick up these two."

"How will you explain the 'creature' part of the whole thing?" Lancelot asked.

"I don't know," Arthur sighed as he looked down on the two thugs.

Macbeth meanwhile reached inside his coat and pulled out a small cube. He then handed it to Arthur.

"Just tell them they had stolen a hologram projector from somewhere," Macbeth said calmly.

"Where did you get this?" Arthur asked.

"Borrowed it from Xanatos while we were there," Macbeth answered, "His technology development department had a lot of trouble with those early models, so he was really giving them away."

"So why did you ask for one?" Arthur asked.

"Though we could fix it up with my hovercraft," Macbeth sighed, "Which failed spectacularly. You'll have to crush the cube to make sure they can't check the hologratic imager for what image it actually produces, but you can use it in your explanation."

"Thanks, I guess," Arthur sighed as the others began to head off, to allow him to call the police and let them pick up the two crooks.

As they left, Arthur looked down at the two crooks and remembered Una's comments about dark magic. He then sighed knowing that they were lucky to merely end up dealing with a couple of street thugs who knew something about magic. It was also times like this that he missed Merlin. While Arthur waited, his mind drifted to his former teacher and to Rachel, and hoped their travels were successful.

**The End**


	13. Bigger Problems

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Dark Magic".

Bigger Problems

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London Airport**

Arthur sat quietly in the waiting area of the principle airport as he looked at a copy of the Times. Some rather bizarre things had been going on in America, at least according to the paper's foreign correspondents. It was mostly things that related to New York and the Manhattan Clan, so Arthur, himself, didn't find it truly bizarre. It wasn't expected of a man who ruled over Britain in the early sixth late fifth centuries and was still alive, had had a powerful wizard as his chief adviser, and had associated with the clan of that time period to find things involving gargoyles, even it was an ocean away, to be strange.

That, however, was not his reason for being at the airport. He was there to pick up Merlin and Rachel when they returned, as he had received a phone the previous night from Merlin, in which the wizard announced that they would be on their way back from their quest. He hoped they were successful, as the only real reports that he and Macbeth received were largely only to say where they were headed next.

Arthur barely waited long before he heard a soft coughing sound. As if someone was trying to get his attention. He looked up to see Merlin standing in front of him.

"Welcome home, old friend," Arthur said warmly, "You're a tad early. According to your phone message, you didn't think you would get in until after twelve ten."

Merlin looked at his watch for a moment and then sighed, "Twelve ten, my time, not London time. Sorry."

"Is Rachel still with you?" Arthur asked.

"She's already gone downstairs to get our luggage," Merlin answered, "I cam here to let you know we had arrived."

Arthur nodded and got up, "I suppose we should catch up with her then."

That prompted Merlin to nod.

"So how went your quest?" Arthur asked, "Did you find out everything you needed to find out?"

This only earned him a sigh in response. Arthur looked on for a few moments before Merlin answered.

"I believe we have, but I believe it is something that everyone should hear," Merlin said slowly, "So, I'm afraid I will have to wait until after dusk to inform you on how my quest went."

"I take it that whatever you found out will be difficult?" Arthur asked.

"All I can say is yes," Merlin sighed and then changed the conversation, "So how have things been around here?"

"Fairly interesting," Arthur answered, "I'll tell you more about it when we're back to the car. Keep everything calm and all."

Merlin nodded and the two made their way towards a series of escalators.

**Elsewhere**

"What?" Anglo gasped as he focused intently on the phone in his hand.

"Yes," a voice answered over the line, "Merlin and his werewolf companion have returned to London. Pendragon just picked them up."

Anglo growled, "Keep following them."

He then slammed the phone down in anger and frustration.

"Problem's, sir?" Jeremy Irons questioned.

"Merlin has returned and has rejoined Pendragon," Anglo grumbled, "Which means the entire society failed to put an end to him."

"Perhaps he didn't find anything and has returned empty handed," Irons commented, "I mean he went around the world, and didn't visit any Illuminati archive."

"He could have," Anglo answered fearfully.

This made Irons nervous. Very little made his boss become fearful of anything. He doubted that Anglo feared the Council.

"What do you mean, sir?" Irons asked.

"The last know location where the two of them stopped for a fair amount of time was in Tibet," Anglo answered, "Where we have one of our secret bases. They could have gotten into our archives there."

"But isn't Tibet a political hot zone right now?" Irons asked, "The Council wouldn't keep a full archive, computerized or otherwise, in an area that is on the brink of war."

"The Council maintained offices inside Germany, Japan, and Italy during World War II," Anglo answered, "the base is safe from the insurgents. If Merlin has seen the archives there, we could all be in grave danger of losing the Mage's prophecies to Arthur."

"Shall I send Lucius, sir?" Jeremy asked.

"Not yet," Anglo sighed, "Mister Severus and his followers have not been fully trained. And his rantings about ruling the world have aggravated our trainers. I've had to break up a couple of fights already."

"Doesn't get along with others?" Jeremy asked.

"Doesn't get along with anyone when not in complete control," Anglo answered, "Severus is a most arrogant mutate."

"Then what shall you have me do to defeat Merlin, then?" Jeremy asked.

"For the moment there is nothing we can do but observe," Anglo answered, "and make sure that Merlin has returned with 'empty hands'. We'll just have to deal with whatever Merlin has learned when he reveals it to us. Keep observing him for now."

"Of course, sir," Jeremy answered and turned around to leave the office.

**Macbeth's Car**

"He loaned you his car?" Merlin asked in surprise as Arthur led him and Rachel to it.

"What?" Arthur asked, "Leo and Una provided the proper instruction before I found you."

"They know how to drive?" Rachel asked, "Why would they want or need to?"

"They never told me that Griff had gotten curious during the twenties and they were involved in fixing up old junked cars and driving them around the countryside," Arthur answered, "How they knew how an engine worked, I do not know."

"Sounds like an interesting story, but for another time," Merlin answered as they got into the vehicle.

"Of course," Arthur nodded.

"Anything happen hear while we were out?" Merlin asked, "At least anything that we should know of?"

"At the moment, I think the only things that need to be told is that Unseelie Court's former slaves that came from Britain have returned and are currently guests at the mansion," Arthur began, "Macbeth and I have been trying to help them establish their own shelter, like the one that the mutates in New York run. I should also report that Lucius and his followers have returned to London."

"Yes," Merlin shook his head, "Macbeth mentioned something about that when I called once."

"Yes," Arthur answered, "He jumped me while I was out on a case and knocked Griff and Octavia out. Macbeth had to command a rescue party I'm afraid."

"Lucius will be the least of our coming problems," Merlin replied.

"You sure you can't tell me more about this now?" Arthur answered.

"It would save us having to repeat it later," Merlin told him.

"There are other things that we can tell you now, though," Rachel spoke up, "If you're curious."

"That would be interesting," Arthur nodded, "I'm sure you've both had some interesting adventures that did not directly relate to the quest."

"Well, just about everything we did directly related to our 'quest'," Rachel answered, "There are just some things that Merlin believes should wait until the gargoyles have woken up."

"So what occurred on your trip that you can tell me?" Arthur asked.

"Well," Rachel began, "I suppose it's a bit of good news, actually. While were in Manhattan, I've actually gained full control over my… condition. I no longer have to worry about shifting when I lose my temper or anything."

Arthur gave a polite smile to the brown haired woman.

"That is good news then," Arthur replied, "When do you suppose you'll want to return to York?"

"York?" Rachel asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Merlin and I encouraged you to come to London so that Merlin could help you with your transformations," Arthur answered, "Wouldn't you want to return to your home, now that need Merlin to train you anymore?"

"I suppose," Rachel answered.

"And you've said that you don't wish to be in your wolf form all that often," Arthur added, "Remaining here would almost demand that you use your wolf form."

"I guess," Rachel sighed.

"That doesn't entirely sound like you want to leave," Merlin commented, "Don't you miss your sister?"

"I do," Rachel answered, "I'm just not sure if I should go back yet."

"You're not sure?" Arthur questioned.

"Let's just say I've been dragged into some things that I don't think it would be fair for me just to leave," Rachel answered.

"Ah," Arthur nodded with a polite smile, "Your help will be much appreciated then. If what Merlin says is to come is just as bad as a fear it will be, we will probably need your help."

**Illuminati Headquarters, Undisclosed Location**

"So even our supermen failed to capture Merlin?" Three asked.

"That is of no concern," One said, "It is quite possible that they found someone else."

"And gave them to us," Five grumbled.

"What?" One growled.

"Khan delivered two dead bodies to us," Five answered, "You don't suppose that…"

"That our greatest weapon is actively fighting against us and has sided with that wizard?" One growled again.

"It is not impossible," Five answered, "Khan and the supermen are our greatest weapons, yes, but unlike all our other weapons they are capable of intelligent thought. They have the capacity to betray us."

"So does every other Illuminati agent," Two countered, "It isn't likely that Khan is plotting against us. He knows we could obliterate him off the face of the Earth if he did."

"Our satellites identified Merlin and the werewolf," Five countered, "And Khan sent us two bodied. Now our agents in Britain say that Merlin has returned."

"Our agents there could be mistaken," One answered, "Or our watchmen watching the satellites that found 'Merlin' in Tibet could be mistaken. We can not jump to the conclusion that we were betrayed because Merlin showed up in London. There are many things that we can not control and thinks that he can not control."

Five was about to speak again when Three spoke up, interrupting the argument.

"This is not the reason we are meeting right now," Three said slowly, "We can debate over whether or not Khan is behind us or not later. Right now, we must deal with Merlin."

"Agreed," Two nodded, "If Khan does betray us we can destroy him. Merlin, however, possesses powerful magic and has the knowledge to use his powers. Our most basic tricks will do nothing and it has been shown that even our more advanced tactics are not as successful in dealing with him as we would like."

Five and One slowly nodded. Merlin was their most important business at the moment.

"Khan can wait till another day," Five sighed, "What will we do with Merlin now?"

"Agent Anglo has 'recruited' some of Dr. Sevarius's creatures to fight Pendragon," Three answered, "And as been seeing to their training."

"A mutate's electric blasts won't do anything to stop Merlin's magic," One answered.

"Of course, but they could more then deal with Pendragon and his allies," Three pointed out.

"A sorcerer will need to be scent to deal with Merlin," Four commented, "He can lead the mutates on an attack against Merlin."

"That's where Agent Anglo has questions," Three sighed, "The lead mutate has dreams of world domination and the only way that he could get the mutates to ally with him was to promise that he would provide some aide to him in that regard."

"That is of no importance," Two commented, "We helped both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in their bids for world domination."

"We also supported the Allied Powers and the United States," One countered, "Dealing with the mutate leader will be somewhat tricky."

"It's still doable," Two said, "We never wanted Hitler or Stalin to take mastery of the world, we just helped them along until they confirmed our suspicions, and then we made sure they lost out. We can just string out this new would-be conqueror for a while."

"Very well," Three nodded, "Then who will be the wizard that we send?"

"I will go," Six volunteered, "We can then at least learn directly what is going on there."

"What?" Four gasped, "No Councilman has ever gone on missions. Ever."

"Can you name a living sorcerer with connections to the Illuminati that has the ability and knowledge to match wits with Merlin?" Six asked back.

The entire room was silent.

"I am barely a member of this Council," Six continued, "I will go. To prove myself, if you must think of it that way. We might be able to learn exactly what Merlin learned over the course of his journey."

"Very well," One nodded, "You will take an official inspection of all our offices in England. You will deal with Merlin over the course of this inspection."

"Of course," Six answered, "I will leave immediately."

**London**

Merlin and Rachel rested quietly after arriving at Macbeth's mansion. Arthur went about handling a few minor cases he had to work on while waiting for dusk and Merlin's final report. Rachel was watching the afternoon local news when Macbeth returned.

"I see you and Merlin have returned," Macbeth commented, "Did he find everything he was looking for?"

"He did, but he isn't going to say what it is until after the gargoyles wake up and Arthur returns," Rachel told him, "And I have been instructed to say nothing more on the subject until then as well."

Macbeth nodded, "At least we'll know what were up against."

Rachel then watched as the immortal Scotsman walked on into a different part of the mansion. Arthur returned about half an hour before dusk and after the gargoyles awoke, the gargoyles woke up, they and Chester, who represented the London mutates, gathered in the kitchen of the mansion to listen to what Merlin had to say.

"I'd first like to thank you all for waiting," Merlin sighed, "Because this will not be easy."

He paused to let the others prepare themselves for what had to be said.

"Our quest was only a partial success," Merlin sighed, "Rachel has learned to master her ability to shift forms, but we could find no written records that might indicate what Britain's Greatest Hour of Need would be and when it will come."

"So we're back to where we started?" Leo asked curiously.

"Not quite," Merlin answered, "Because in the course of our quest we came across an individual, who has the plan and possibly the means to conquer the world."

"But wouldn't the prophesy relate solely to Britain?" Lancelot asked.

"It would if the world didn't advance beyond the technology of the middle ages," Macbeth commented, "There were many powerful warlords that threatened large sums of territory throughout history, but in the middle ages and ancient world, the world was far larger then what people thought it was. People in ancient Rome had no idea, and didn't really care what the Chinese Han dynasty did in China. People in Africa could have cared less about the Vikings. The people of modern-day Vietnam wouldn't have known about the Mongols."

"But those peoples never came into contact," Griff pointed out, "At least not directly."

"Distances and other countries made that the case," Merlin answered, "But if they had come into contact, they would have been lead to fight one another. The Romans would have desired to addChina's wealth to their Empire and the Chinese would have found the Roman military too big a threat to be allowed to exist. The Vikings would have looted and pillaged any culture that had anything worth pillaging. And warriors of Genghis Khan would have wanted to conquer Vietnam if they came in contact with one another. But distances and time killed all of these. Rome didn't remain on top forever and the Han dynasty was eventually replaced. The Viking want for plunder eventually died off as they suffered a chain of localized defeats and eventually became more Christian. And while Genghis Khan's warriors were the most successful of each hegmonial power, they went in directions other then Vietnam, and they didn't remain on top forever."

"On top of this, none of these peoples knew about America, except for maybe the Vikings," Macbeth added, "None of them could have threatened the entire world, only the areas that were locally close. And many of the peoples, who they went to war with, didn't know they were at war until soldiers of a foreign nationality changed the banner or statue that represented who controlled the town."

"Over time, technology advanced to a point where the globe could be traversed in hours rather then in months or years," Merlin finished, "It is one of the things that made the Americans step out of isolationism after World War II. Potential enemies could be at their doorstep far faster then before, where as if Hitler was the German Fuhrer in 933 instead of 1933, he would have really been able to threaten the lands immediately bordering what is now Austria, rather then all of Europe. Today, any country with a strong industrial base has the potential to threaten the entire world, and the entire world includes Britain."

"So who is this villain?" Arthur asked.

"And what does he plan to do?" Griff added.

"Basically put, he is Khan Noonien Singh and he intends to conquer the world," Merlin answered, "And there is nothing simple about the operation that will need to take place in order to stop him."

"How so?" Julia asked.

"Khan and his immediate followers are genetically engineered supermen," Merlin explained, "They are stronger, faster, and above all smarter then all average human beings."

"Who created them?" Una asked.

"And how are they able to put us in such a position?" Guinevere asked, "Most of us here are gargoyles, already stronger then humans. So are the mutates, and Rachel's wolf form is much stronger then her human form. And Merlin and Una know magic, which being smart, or strong, or fast can not always counter."

Merlin sighed, "That can be answered in one word. The Illuminati. The Illuminati created Khan and his followers, probably to do their dirty work behind the scenes. Somehow, they did their work too well, however, and Khan has decided that they are not worthy of ruling the world, even if it is covert."

"Won't the Illuminati crush him when he makes his move, though?" Arthur asked.

"They won't be able to," Merlin answered, "Khan's move will be to reveal the Illuminati to the world. That will be the start of the war in the east. The revelation of the Illuminati will then be causes the monarchy to fall."

"Where is Khan hiding out, anyway?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Tibet," Rachel answered for Merlin, "We never found any text that lead us to Khan, but we did run into a group of gargoyles and monks from Tibet that had been attacked by Khan. They were the reason why we went there and encountered Khan."

"The conflict in Tibet has been going on months!" Arthur exclaimed, "It was only just escalating beyond a few small incidents when we learned that you were bitten."

"Khan has obviously made progress since then," Rachel sighed.

Merlin nodded in agreement, "Yes. He is responsible for the current unrest in Tibet. And if he is allowed to carry out his plans to their completion, the whole world will dissolve into anarchy with no one trusting any current government. Khan intends to replace them with himself, taking advantage of the chaos."

"But how could telling the world that Illuminati secretly control it destroy the Queen?" Leo asked, "They need to be able to influence policy, and the last monarch to have any real influence over governmental affairs was Victoria, and even her power was very limited."

"Connections," Merlin sighed, "While most ruling monarchs today among 'western' countries and Japan have little real power, the Illuminati have acted as advisors to them in the past when they did hold power. Arthur and Macbeth here are among the few medieval monarchs who never came to power on the backs of the Illuminati's various plots. The Illuminati didn't exist when Arthur was King of all Britain, and the Illuminati actually preferred Duncan to rule Scotland."

"How do you know this?" Macbeth asked.

"Remember where you found me," Merlin answered, "As a butler and aide to Queen Elizabeth II. I've seen and helped every monarch after Arthur on the British throne in whatever way I could. None, except maybe Victoria, ever lived up to Arthur's ability. Many were good rulers, but Victoria might be the only one that I could say was as good as Arthur. But over the course of my advising these monarchs, I have seen Illuminati agents advise each of them on their own. The Illuminati had the monarch's ear ever since their society was founded."

"And given how unpopular being the monarch is now," Una commented, "Revealing to the world that the King or Queen has dealings with a secret society that really controls the world…"

"Would shatter any faith the British people have in monarchies, and while Republics aren't a bad thing to have," Merlin finished, "We can not have a repeat of the French or Russian Revolutions where the monarchy and all connected to it were violently killed or driven out."

"So we will have to stop Khan then," Gawain surmised, "I suppose that means we have to go to Tibet?"

"Khan's fortress is too strong to assault on our own," Merlin sighed, "And his numbers would eventually defeat us if we were to try an all out battle."

"But you're a wizard," Guinevere protested, "The greatest there ever was. Couldn't you just make them all go to sleep?"

"I am the most written about," Merlin answered, "Not the most powerful. Most full blooded fey are stronger in magic then I am. And the Mage was and Demona is a more powerful 'mortal' sorcerer."

Merlin then gave a heavy sigh and looked down.

"And the fact that we have a sorcerer on our side may no longer be advantage that we have," Merlin spoke slowly, "Khan had his doctors take samples of my blood."

"Blood samples?" Macbeth gasped, "You're not suggesting that the he's attempting to clone you?"

"If he hasn't already," Merlin answered.

There were collective gasps heard as Merlin finished that sentence.

"Khan could already have a clone of me ready to perform acts of sorcery for him," Merlin said slowly.

"We must head for Tibet at once," Arthur said firmly, "And stop him."

"That would not be possible," Merlin said, "Khan's principle enemy is the Illuminati and any who would back them. The Illuminati believe his insurgency to be merely some unknown factor that somehow knows of their existence. To them it is nothing to be truly concerned with, other then that 'he' is causing them some minor trouble. That means they will maintain their 'business as usual', which means that Communist China will not allow four humans and a clan of gargoyles and potentially a group of mutates to be operating within their borders, especially when none of them are ethnically Chinese or members of the Communist Party."

"So what can we do?" Macbeth asked.

"We must do what will be the most problematic," Merlin said slowly, "We must contact and ally ourselves WITH the Illuminati. We give them the information behind the insurgency in Tibet and promise to help them. They would ignore all about the prophesy relating to Britain's Greatest Hour of Need and focus on stopping Khan, allowing us to fulfill that prophesy."

"But the Illuminati have tried to kill us," Griff pointed out, "What's to stop them actually doing so if we make this overture?"

"Is there any other way?" Arthur asked, "The Illuminati may not be truly evil and may even have some good qualities, but they are not a group that I would trust."

"There is no other way that wouldn't help Khan or make our task far more difficult," Merlin said slowly, "Especially since most of them would have us fight the Chinese Army, the Illuminati, AND Khan."

"Doesn't exactly sound like a fair match," Octavia commented.

"Which is why we must ally with the Illuminati," Merlin sighed, "Otherwise we will have no chance of saving Britain in the long run."

**World War II British Army Training Facility, North East of London**

"They're horrible," Six spoke slowly as he and Anglo watched Lucius and his followers go through basic combat training that would help them fight with Pendragon and his allies in the future.

"They're better then where they were at when they first arrived," Anglo said defensively.

"Then they weren't worth the effort of hiring them," Six growled.

"Their leader wanted to defeat Pendragon and the Council was urgent that I find a way to defeat Pendragon," Anglo answered, "I killed two birds with one stone."

"That would be fine if these were some lowly street thugs who would be willing servants," Six pointed out.

"Most of them are street thugs," Anglo shrugged, "The rest are homeless people that feel they've been cheated."

"Led by a man who worships Ancient Rome and expects to be treated as an equal partner, if not as a superior," Six said firmly, "First of all, the Mage gave up the Roman style of government when the Middle Ages began to advance into the Renaissance and a more complex system of government had to be created."

"Some could argue that the Ancient Roman government was more complex and effective then anything the Renaissance produced," Anglo answered.

"But it would not have survived under the societal changes that would occur during the Renaissance or even after without undergoing drastic change," Six reminded him, "Which all the governments of that time period went through. This Lucius is trying to live out some strange fantasy."

Six then looked at Lucius in particular.

"Two, that mutate is an idiot," Six growled, "It's not that he's trying to resurrect a long dead system of government, but I'd swear he believes that he's descended from Roman Emperors, when his history proves that the last descendents of a Roman Emperor died between 1917 and 1920 in Russia, although the Romanovs were tied to the Eastern branch of the Roman Empire, which became the Byzantine Empire. The last Western Roman Emperor died between 470 and 500. Their leader is a fool."

"Even a fool has his uses," Anglo said weakly, "Even if we are not to support him in his plans, couldn't we at least humor him? At least until we've gained what WE want?"

Six sighed, "Their training will need to be tripled, and Mr. Lucius is in desperate need of an attitude adjustment. He needs to learn that if we are to be 'equal partners' he can not parade around as if he were Caesar."

"Yes, Council Member," Anglo said with a slight bow of submission.

**The End…?**


	14. Hostile Negotiations

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Bigger Problems".

Hostile Negotiations

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Griff and Octavia were the last to finish their patrol over London, and it appeared that the night sky was beginning to lighten. They found Arthur waiting patiently on the roof.

"Any luck?" Arthur asked.

"Well," Griff sighed, "We stopped a few petty street crimes, but we found no signs of any member of the Illuminati. I've begun to think that we won't get the chance to have our little negotiation until they find us."

Arthur sighed as he let both gargoyles pass and go inside.

"I had hoped we would find some sign of them sooner or later," Arthur sighed, "As much trouble as they have put us through, we are going to need their help when Britain's Greatest Hour of Need begins."

"We still don't know when that will be," Octavia reminded the Once and Future King, "And we have heard no major announcement of Khan's activities in China. So the 'war' in the East hasn't fully begun yet. That at least gives us time."

"Unfortunately, I do know how much time we have," Arthur replied, "And Merlin is uncertain. All we can say is soon, which means we must be ready."

"We will be ready," Griff answered confidently, "No doubt of that."

Arthur gave a weak smile.

"Thank you, Griff," Arthur answered.

"We'll try again tomorrow night," Griff answered, "Perhaps we'll have more success."

"Perhaps," Arthur sighed.

Arthur then moved toward a stairway that would lead him further down toward the ground floor, while Griff and Octavia walked toward the clan's sleeping room.

"I worry about him," Octavia commented, "His dedication to protecting this island rivals or even surpasses a gargoyle's instinct to protect."

"Is that bad?" Griff asked, "I've never heard of a gargoyle being in trouble for wanting to protect something."

"Remember how Julia and I have said that the Legionnaire was responsible for educating and helping to raise the hatchlings in the Roman Order?" Octavia asked.

Griff nodded.

"One of his most important lessons to hatchlings in the Roman Order was that one must not take their job too seriously," Octavia explained.

"Their job?" Griff asked.

"As we all know gargoyles are driven to protect something," Octavia continued, "Usually a city or a castle, depending on where the Order had settled. The Romans understood that and made the Roman Order an official part of their 'police' service. They provided the order with training for apprehending criminals, escaped slaves, and other minor problems without killing them, and defending the city from foreign invaders through any means necessary. The defense of the city became an important job for the Roman Order, both because of a gargoyle's instinct and the responsibilities that the Romans placed on it."

"That still doesn't explain how someone protection too seriously," Griff commented.

Octavia looked down, "Some members of the Roman Order at times took their mission to protect Rome so seriously that they would go into bouts of depression when something happened that they could not control, such as a murderer escaping them because they only came across him fairly close to dawn and had to return to the city's walls or to the Forum. Even a minor thief who escaped them or crimes committed during the day were enough to cause bouts of depression among these Order members."

"But they couldn't have done anything if the crimes or attacks happened during the day," Griff answered, "And even if your clan was strong during the Roman days, there had to have been things that they couldn't have stopped. I mean, I tried my best to help the RAF, but I was only one gargoyle, and I can't glide as fast as even the slow moving bombers that the Nazis sent. I had to essentially wait and dive on an airplane that got close. And I don't think my actions did all that much to prevent the Nazis from keeping up their attacks, and according to the history books, it would appear that I wasn't truly required by Britain to defend it. The allies won the war."

"Not all gargoyles are identical," Octavia reminded him, "Your original clan resembles mythical creatures, unicorns, sphinxes, griffons, etcetera. Scottish gargoyles resemble biblical demons. Roman gargoyles resemble eagles. If gargoyles are different from each other in appearance, why should their mindset be identical?"

Griff gave a sigh, knowing full well that she was right.

"Some members of the Roman Order took their job very seriously," Octavia continued, "And that they had to stop or prevent every possible crime from occurring, and when crimes did occur they believed that they had failed and became depressed over it. Not all members were like that, but a few where."

"You think that Arthur is taking this too seriously?" Griff questioned.

"I fear there is the possibility that he is," Octavia answered, "Did you not hear the defeated tone of his voice? He sounded as if all of Britain had been conquered when we simply said that we hadn't been able to contact an Illuminati agent."

"It's just that the things are a lot more complicated then they were, even in the forties," Griff answered, "I'm sure Arthur will recover."

"I hope you're right," Octavia answered weakly, "I hope you're right."

**Elsewhere**

"What do you mean we must continue training?" Lucius growled sounding very agitated.

"One of the Illuminati Council leaders has come to oversee the actions taking place against Pendragon and his allies," Agent Anglo answered, "He finds that you and your followers are too sloppy to last long against the experienced warriors that are allied with Pendragon. He wants to make sure you are ready."

"I am ready," Lucius growled, letting electricity sparkle between his fingers, "And I want to take out Pendragon as soon as possible."

"The Council wishes that Pendragon be taken down as swiftly as possible as well," Agent Anglo began to answer.

"Then why won't you let me go and kill him?!" Lucius roared, "We're supposed to be partners!"

"One is that the Council does not feel that the present time is well suited to engaging Pendragon," Anglo answered, "Partially from his past escapes from the Council's plans and partially because they do not feel your followers are sufficiently trained to deal with a gargoyle who has glided into battle against the best the German Luftwaffe of the 1940s had to offer, two Roman gargoyles trained by man whom the Council has not been able to fully identify other then through rumors from captured superhuman beings, an immortal Scotsman who has lived since the eleventh century and fought in multiple wars, including both World Wars, the most powerful wizard that literature has been written about, and the 'Once and Future King' of all Britain, armed with Excalibur. They would cut you and your followers to pieces."

Lucius stared across Anglo's desk with a visible look of anger on his face. Anglo slowly, and almost hesitantly continued, knowing that if the mutate decided to electrocute him, he wouldn't have time to reach for his gun.

"As for your comments on us being partners, that is another thing the Council is disappointed in," Anglo continued.

"What?" Lucius growled, "Your Council 'ok's' the alliance and now their disappointed that you made the alliance?"

"Not with the alliance," Anglo answered, "Your behavior. They believe you are treating us as mere lackeys."

"But I must show a strong front!" Lucius urged.

"Maybe so," Anglo responded, "But ALLIES do not, at least not openly, treat each other with such disrespect. I have even received reports from the trainers that you are not particularly respectful to them when they find obvious flaws in your or your follower's manner of combat."

"My bargain was with you," Lucius answered, "Why should I be respectful to those that are YOUR lackeys?"

"Because the Illuminati is not an organization run by petty thugs," Anglo answered, "It has survived as an organization by attracting and subverting the smartest and most devious members of society. We do not treat our own as if they were mere errand boys."

Lucius was silent a few moments before he argued back, "So I need to suck-up to you in order for your Council to approve of the alliance."

"Well, they would like that," Anglo restrained himself from chuckling, "But they would settle for you treating my followers like equals."

Lucius got up slowly, an angry growl on his face.

"Kill me, and the alliance is immediately over, and your little group will be killed in retaliation," Anglo said quickly as he slid back, hoping he could dodge any electric blast that came his way.

"I'll go back to the training grounds, then," Lucius growled, "But make no mistake, I do not like this arrangement where I am the slave."

Anglo then watched as Lucius stormed out of Anglo's office. The Illuminati member sighed heavily with relief as the door shut. Six then came in through another door.

"He will have to learn to like the arrangement if he wishes to live long after Pendragon is dead," Six commented in a very cold sounding voice.

"Maybe, but do I have to be the first Illuminati member he electrocutes before he is killed?" Anglo questioned, "He looked ready to attack at every single point of that meeting."

"Calm yourself, if he had made any direct move against you, he would have been teleported to a much more secure facility," Six answered.

"You can do that?" Anglo asked.

"I'm not as strong as the Mage or even One in sorcery, but I am capable of a simple transportation spell," Six answered.

"Of course, sir," Anglo answered.

"How are things doing in relation to the situation with Pendragon?" Six questioned.

"Nothing much out of his normal routine," Anglo answered, "His allies patrolled last night, although one or two teams were forced to take rather hasty action to avoid being spotted."

"What?" Six questioned, "Are you saying they were looking for a fight?"

"Whether or not they are fighting is not known," Anglo answered, "But they were definitely looking for Illuminati members."

"For what possible reason would they be looking for us, if not to fight then?" Six demanded.

"I do not know," Anglo whimpered.

Six then turned and looked at the wall where Anglo hand hung some pictures to make the place appear homier. After a few moments he returned his attention to Anglo.

"If Pendragon wants to find us," Six commented, "Then I propose we let him find us."

"Sir?" Anglo asked.

"Assign commando teams to take up positions in various parts of the city tonight," Six instructed, "When Pendragon or his allies come by their position, have them attack. We'll rid ourselves of our Medieval problem in one swift stroke."

"Of course sir," Anglo answered.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

The Illuminati were sat quietly in his cell, waiting for someone to come and feed him inside the cell that they had locked him in. He had tried various escape attempts, but found that the door and a layer of the wall, ceiling, and floor that was made out of silver, and he couldn't tunnel out of it. On top of this, the door itself was silver and the hinges were on the other side, and probably out of a metal that couldn't be broken easily and strengthened even further through magic. Finally the small opening that allowed food to be passed into his cell opened and he moved toward it.

He was met by an angry looking Rachel and no food.

"I didn't know I was being given conjugal visits," the Illuminati were grinned.

"I'm not here to 'visit' with you," Rachel answered, "I have some questions that I want YOU to answer."

The Illuminati werewolf was silent.

"Where is your boss's base at?" Rachel demanded.

"Which one?" the Illuminati were asked back, "I've been alive for almost a century. I've had multiple bosses."

"That one that sent you to York to attack me," Rachel growled, "Where is his base?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," the Illuminati were replied, "Top secret."

"I won't allow you to be feed until you tell," Rachel growled back.

"Pendragon and Merlin wouldn't stand for that," the Illuminati were smirked, "They wouldn't condone anything that isn't 'chivalrous', even if it gains answers."

"They won't have to be involved if you tell me," Rachel said in a low voice, "Mostly since their current problems have been caused by your current boss."

"Why are you wanting to go out Illuminati hunting anyway?" the Illuminati were questioned, "They're only going to kill you when you show up. Pendragon and Merlin because they've decided they're against the Illuminati and you… because, well… let's just say I wasn't supposed to leave you alive to become a were, and if your idiot girlfriend…"

"That was my sister," Rachel growled.

"Whatever," the Illuminati were shrugged, "If your sister hadn't hit me over the head with her umbrella, I WOULD have killed you."

Rachel sighed and tried to restrain herself from growling at him.

"So, I ask again," the Illuminati were asked, "Why are you out Illuminati hunting?"

"Arthur and Merlin need to speak with your boss," Rachel answered, "Now where is his base?"

"I'm still not going to tell you anything," the Illuminati were answered, "Why should I? So they can go and attack him? Huh?"

"He hasn't made any attempt to rescue you," Rachel countered.

"Actually, if he comes for me, it would be to kill me," the Illuminati were answered, "but if I lead you to them, and they find out, I'm in for torture before death. So I'm keeping silent."

"I really hate you," Rachel growled and stormed away.

"Nice talking to you," the Illuminati were called after her, "Send Merlin down with breakfast!"

Upstairs Merlin, Macbeth, and Arthur were busy trying to figure out what to do next.

"I can't go around asking, even the students, if they have Illuminati contacts," Macbeth grumbled, "Even if I were successful, he or she would likely to only be a minor member, and I wouldn't know it until after they'd captured me."

"It was only a suggestion," Arthur answered back, "I know it isn't a good one, but the situation has to be growing desperate. Who knows what this Khan is doing right now."

"I don't believe we're quite at the point of desperation, yet," Merlin commented, "If we were, we would have seen Khan's announcement on the teley already. We just need to make contact with this Anglo person, or at least an Illuminatis who could get us in contact with him."

"The clan all seems to be willing to go out again tomorrow night," Arthur sighed, "But I feel that I'm overworking them on this. They also have the city to protect."

"That'll just have to be our best hope then," Merlin sighed, "Even if it is overworking the clan, they might be our only real hope of making some kind of contact with the Illuminati."

Arthur only sighed in response, "I only hope that this doesn't put them in danger."

**That Night**

Arthur sighed as he watched the gargoyles leave. Una and Leo were off to their shop while the rest patrolled. He felt somewhat depressed that he had to use the London clan so much to try and find out these things. True, Griff, Lancelot, and Gawain had become his newest knights, he felt that there was always more that he could and should do. He especially felt this way when he often quite literally led the charge in every battle that his kingdom fought during the Middle Ages. He also felt that the present mission was taking away from the London clan what had been their main mission before he had arrived in the present time, which was to protect London itself.

"You okay?" came Rachel's voice from the doorway.

Arthur turned to see her standing by the door wearing only the jumpsuit that she wore in wolf form. He glanced then to the full moon as it hung behind some scattered clouds.

"It's only just gotten to dusk," Rachel sighed, "I don't HAVE to change until midnight."

"You seem to ready a little early then," Arthur commented.

"I thought I'd help you out," Rachel said weakly.

"Hmm?" Arthur asked, sounding confused.

"Well, I said I'd be staying here until this business in dealing with Khan and Britain's Greatest Hour of Need," Rachel explained, "So I thought I'd help."

"There isn't much that can be done, I'm afraid," Arthur answered her, "As we agreed earlier, we need to make contact with the Illuminati, which we can't do until we find them."

"Give me a bit to change, and then we can go find them," Rachel said in a confident voice.

Arthur watched for a moment as Rachel closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were already a bright yellow in color.

"I don't think you understand what I've been saying," Arthur answered, "Neither I nor Macbeth have any contacts with the Illuminati, and they seem to have always been opponents of Merlin from what I've heard. They aren't going to be that easy to find. Even the werewolf that we have locked up in the basement hasn't told us anything."

Rachel began to answer as her transformation continued. She had already gained a few inches in height and her coat of brown fur was beginning to appear. Her voice had a growling tone to it as Arthur watched her canine teeth begin to lengthen slightly but not to the point yet where her muzzle would need to form.

"That's the thing," Rachel managed to say, "He attacked us in a London park and he DOES have Illuminati connections. They werrrrrre his employerrrrrrs."

"But he hasn't told us where they were operating from," Arthur pointed out.

Rachel didn't immediately answer, as she had reached the point where she could make human speech as her feet finally finished lengthening so that she would stand in a stance similar to that of the gargoyles. She let out a few growls that gained volume as she began to approach her full size and as fur had thoroughly covered her.

"Rachel, you need to keep it down," Arthur warned as he heard noises from elsewhere, "We don't want alarm anyone."

She tried to muffle a roar as her muzzle grew out, but once her tail had grown out and began to wag behind her, she howled towards the full moon. She then panted heavily.

"I'm sorry," Rachel sighed, "But, now, we can go find the Illuminati. I visited the spot where the Illuminati were attacked us in the park. The exact spot. I can still smell his scent there. Chloe's too."

"But that was quite a while ago," Arthur said, "Surely the scents have dissipated by now."

"Yours has," Rachel answered, "Macbeth's has. The smell of his little hover sled has. But apparently the supernatural nature of gargoyles and werewolves prevents their scents from dissipating as fast. I could still smell the Illuminati were's and Chloe's. Both were fairly faint but I could still smell them."

"Can you follow the Illuminati were back to where he came from?" Arthur asked, almost sounding hopeful.

"I think so," Rachel nodded, "Although, if he walked along any busy street, we're in trouble, because since I've assumed my wolf form now, because of the full moon, I can't return to 'normal' until sunup."

"Thank you for helping with all of this," Arthur then said in a fairly calm voice.

"I said I'd help, so I'll help," Rachel answered, "It'll pay you all back for helping me out with this."

Arthur nodded, "We should get going then."

**Over London**

Leo and Una were silent as they landed on the roof of their shop. Both were glad to have it back and running again, but their ally's looming crisis was still heavy on their minds.

"Hopefully the others are able to find these Illuminati members," Leo commented quietly with some nervousness in his voice.

"More then likely, I believe they will come looking for us or for Merlin," Una answered.

Leo only sighed, "Then hopefully they're able to hold off the attack."

A gunshot then rang out from behind them, narrowly missing Leo's head and going through the roof entrance to the shop that he was preparing to open. Both gargoyles turned to see a group of men coming out of the shadows of a few other raised structures on the roof, that were there to keep prying eyes from noticing that gargoyles were coming and going from the shop. There were at least ten men total, all armed with submachine guns.

"You'd better worry about yourselves," the lead gunman warned and opened fire again.

Leo dove through the door itself to avoid the hail of bullets while Una leaped on top of the roof of the entrance to the shop. She spoke quietly in Latin and then swung one arm in a wide ark at the attacking gunmen. It generated a golden line of energy that rushed at them and destroyed the guns they were holding, but that was about it.

"I'm going to assume you work for the Illuminati," Una said in a calm voice.

"We are the Third Squad Commandos, yes," the leader answered, "And don't begin to think that because you've destroyed our guns that we have been beat."

"As much as I would like to beat some sense into you for shooting at my mate and me," Una answered slowly, "I'm afraid that further combat is unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?" the leader questioned, "You know of the Illuminati and oppose the will of the Council and further conflict is unnecessary? What kind of idiot do you take me for?!"

"One who will listen to reason," Leo spoke as he appeared in the doorway to the shop's roof entrance again.

The Illuminati commandos looked at each other for a few moments before looking back at the two gargoyles with some concern.

"Arthur and Merlin wish to speak with whoever is in a major role of authority for the Illuminati in England," Una spoke in as firm a voice as possible, "Of rather urgent matters."

"They wish to surrender?" the leader asked.

"No," Una answered, "They wish to speak with whoever is in charge."

"I'm afraid the Council will not accept any 'speech' from either Merlin or Pendragon, unless it is 'I give up, please kill me'," the leader answered.

"Then tell your Council that if they wish the Illuminati to survive into the next century, they will speak with Arthur and Merlin on the roof of this building tomorrow night and unarmed," Una spoke firmly and then spoke in Latin again.

Leo watched quietly as all ten Illuminati gunmen then dropped to the ground asleep. He also heard Una gasp for breath from the roof above him. He came out to see her jump to the roof beside him.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked.

"Only a little tired," Una answered, "These people have taken steps to protect themselves from magic. And it did take a little more to put ten grown men to sleep. You must take them away from here, and hurry. They will only be asleep for five minutes."

"Should we tell Arthur or Merlin?" Leo asked, "You do not look well."

"I will phone them while you remove these people from the shop," Una answered, "Do not worry, now go, and go quickly."

**The Park**

Rachel slowly moved on all fours following the path that the Illuminati were had taken when he had attacked Arthur and her in the same park after she had just been bitten. She moved quickly, but carefully as there were a few passers by and tried to keep her furry body, even the parts that her jumpsuit covered up hidden in the bushes or behind a tree trunk. Arthur followed close behind. She stopped suddenly as they approached the edge of the park.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, his hands going under his goat to grab the hilt of Excalibur.

"Remember what I told you when we left the mansion?" Rachel questioned, "That if he crossed a busy street, it would be difficult for me to follow?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded slowly.

Arthur looked at the street in about twenty feet ahead of them and not covered by trees. He then sighed.

"The trail leads across the street doesn't it?" Arthur spoke with some unease.

"More like along it," Rachel sighed and sat on her knees, and then pointed in a diagonal direction toward the street, "He went that way."

Arthur looked down the street and then at the heavy traffic that covered the street.

"And that street is almost always busy," Arthur sighed again in a defeated manner, "He must have shifted somewhere. And you can't shift back until dawn."

"I didn't realize that my scent and his scent is the same whether or not we're in our human or wolf forms. I assumed that our human and wolf forms had slightly different scents. I'm sorry."

"You sound like Griff did last night," Arthur answered, "It's not your fault that there are difficulties that you can't control. If anything, it's my fault for not doing enough."

Rachel turned to see Arthur looking rather depressed.

**Half an Hour Later**

They found both Merlin and Macbeth waiting for them when they made it back to the mansion.

"Rachel was able to track the Illuminati were's scent through the park," Arthur spoke, "But he entered the park through a rather busy street, that Rachel couldn't go near without being spotted."

"A good try and a brilliant idea," Merlin answered, "But Leo and Una have had better success."

"What?" Rachel and Arthur asked in unison.

"Apparently a squad of Illuminati commandos jumped them as they arrived at the shop," Macbeth answered, "Una used a minor spell to destroy their weapons and then let them know that we wish to speak with their leader and then knocked them out."

"She called us shortly after you two left," Merlin explained.

"Did they agree to a meeting?" Arthur asked.

"Una told me that they said to meet us on the roof of the shop tomorrow night," Merlin answered, "I suppose we'll know then."

**Elsewhere**

Six looked on as he listened to the report from the commando leader.

"The gargoyle said they want to talk?" Anglo asked from behind his desk.

"To me?" Six added from behind Agent Anglo.

"Yes," the commando leader answered, "And she seemed quite certain that the Illuminati would face destruction if you do not speak with Merlin and Pendragon."

"Merlin is powerful," Six spoke, "But he is delusional if he thinks he can just cast a spell and get rid of the Illuminati."

"The gargoyle did not say that Merlin would be the cause of the destruction," the commando leader informed his superiors.

"Yes, but he has been giving us the most trouble as of late," Anglo pointed out, "I doubt it would be anyone else."

"He and Pendragon are plotting something," Six muttered, and then spoke to the commander in a commanding fashion, "Keep your men ready. We will talk with them tomorrow night, but we will also be prepared to capture all of them as well."

"Yes, sir," the commando leader saluted.

**The Next Night**

"Are you sure we should all be waiting for them like this?" Chloe asked as the group stood on the roof of the shop waiting for the Illuminati to arrive.

"Yes, I told them to return unarmed," Una told them.

"They'll probably ignore the demand if it helps them capture us," Macbeth grumbled, "We'll have to prove to them that we are telling the truth."

"Unless you are surrendering, Macbeth, you will not be telling the truth in our eyes at all," a voice came above them

The group looked up to see all ten commandos from before, rearmed land inside the small circle that they had formed. They quickly aimed their weapons the surrounding gargoyles, humans, and werewolf.

"We only wish to talk," Merlin said trying to calm the situation.

"And talk we will," came a voice from inside the small circle of commandos.

A man in a red robe then appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. His face was obscured by a hood that he wore.

"Who are you?" Julia demanded.

"I am the sixth chair of the Illuminati Council's Inner Circle," Six answered, "You may call me Six."

"There was a brief moment of silence before Six began to speak again.

"Now, before you surrender and put yourselves in my custody," Six began, "What is it you wanted to plead?"

"We're pleading for nothing," Merlin answered, "We carry a warning and a request."

"A request?" Six managed to choke out, "You fight the Illuminati's will and you have a request?"

"It would be in your best interest to accept it," Macbeth said in a firm voice.

"You are a threat to Illuminati Council," Six answered, "I highly doubt that anything you say will be helpful to it."

"Even if we're going to warn you about someone who will destroy your entire order?" Rachel growled.

Six turned to the female were, standing more then seven feet tall.

"Your friend Merlin is that threat," Six answered.

"I'm afraid the threat is from within your own organization," Merlin answered, "Not from me."

Six looked at Merlin with a very disbelieving look on his face.

"In Tibet you have a facility that you operate, correct?" Merlin asked.

"How do you…?" Six began to demand.

"Is that correct?" Merlin asked again, more forcefully.

"Yes," Six answered.

"I have been trying to work to fulfill a prophecy that involves Arthur and what is Britain's Greatest Hour of Need," Merlin answered, "But because much of the information regarding that in this part of the world has been scattered, probably by your organization, Rachel Winters, here, and I made a quest to gain the information that is needed to figure out the prophecy."

"So you and your pet went on a little tour to continue to destroy the Illuminati," Six answered, "How is this important?"

"How does Britain's Greatest Hour of Need threaten the Illuminati?" Merlin questioned.

"Because if Pendragon saves Britain," Six answered, "Then several of the Mage's prophecies will be broken and his future altered."

"The Mage also prophesized that he'd live forever," Merlin answered, "Is he alive now?"

Six did not answer.

"The threat to the Illuminati and the force that will bring about Britain's Greatest Hour of need will come out of Tibet," Merlin explained slowly, "Out of your base as a matter of fact."

"The Tibet base is securing," Six answered confidently, "And the province, while experiencing some difficulties is in no danger."

"The base is secured by someone who aims to bring down both the world and the Illuminati," Rachel answered, "We're telling the truth."

"What are you talking about?" Six demanded, wanting to keep the Illuminati's superman project that was operating in Tibet secret.

"Your superman leader, Khan," Merlin answered, "He intends to betray you and take over the world."

"He's never done anything to indicate that," Six said with disbelief.

"He's a very intelligent man with excellent cover," Merlin answered, "You believe he is willingly serving you and is using that to his advantage. He is behind the insurgency in Tibet at this time."

"You lie!" Six accused.

"I'm only telling you what Rachel and I discovered when he briefly captured us," Merlin answered, "This present insurrection in China is only the beginning of his war against you and the rest of the world. His next move will be to say that the Illuminati exists and that they control the world."

"Even if he were to do that, no one would believe it," Six answered almost smugly, "While it is true that we rule the world, we do it secretly. The common man does not know we even exist."

"Khan probably has the evidence to make people believe," Merlin warned, "And in doing so, it will spread chaos throughout the globe. I will not deny the fact that I think the world would be better off without your organization, but to just destroy it in one fell swoop risks great danger. Danger that we can not defeat or prevent on our own. We need your help."

"Khan is the Illuminati's loyal servant," Six said firmly, "I will listen to your lies, no longer. Take them down."

The ten commandos surrounding Six raised their arms to fire, but soon found themselves in trouble. Macbeth drew his electric blaster and fired into the group of commandos, destroying three commando's weapons. Griff and Octavia dove forward, tackling two of them and forcing them to drop their guns. Arthur drew Excalibur and swung the enchanted sword quickly, cutting the gun of the commando in front of him in half. Chloe spun on one foot and swung her tail low, taking the feet out from under two more commandos, who managed to fire, but their bullets went harmlessly into the air. Rachel approached one slowly and grabbed a commando by his armor and lifted him into the air. The man looked frightened at the sight of her bared fangs.

"I don't smell any silver in your arsenal," Rachel growled in a threatening voice, although she was sure what she would do if he fought on.

Merlin knocked out the last gunman with a quick lightning spell and then joined the remaining gargoyles in converging on Six.

"I may be old, but I'm not an invalid," Merlin warned, "And you came under armed if you intended for this situation to be hostile."

Six was quiet for a moment, as if he was listening to something else and then began to speak slowly.

"I intended for you to surrender," Six answered, "I did not intend to be embroiled in a fight. You are insane if you believe you can take down the Illuminati by spreading these lies."

With that, Six and all the commandos vanished, leaving them alone on the roof.

"Well, that was spectacularly unsuccessful," Merlin grumbled.

"What do we do now?" Guinevere asked, "Why wouldn't he believe us? You all told the truth."

"I would think that our recent battles have convinced them that we are the Illuminati's enemy," Macbeth answered, "It's hard for people to trust someone they've been fighting for years and years. Even if they're truthful."

"As for what we should do, I think it would be best to simply begin preparing," Arthur answered, "Khan will eventually use some sort of paratrooper force to attack England and we must be ready to do what we can to resist his attack."

"And I believe I will need to be looking through my journals," Merlin sighed, "Find out how many of Britain's rulers were influenced by the Illuminati and how much."

The group slowly nodded and began walk away from the meeting area. The gargoyles moved to a spot where they could glide from. Merlin used his magic to lift himself into the air while Arthur, Rachel, and Macbeth got onto a hoversled to return to the mansion. No one seemed to be in the mood for doing much more that night.

"I'm afraid we only have hard times coming," Arthur said with a nervous voice.

**Elsewhere**

"They tried to say that we are going to bring ourselves down?" Anglo asked with disbelief.

"Yes," Six answered, "And told me their plans. Thankfully the second commando squad thoroughly searched their shop while the negotiations were held. They have nothing that can prove the Illuminati's existence."

"That's good," Anglo nodded, "Now all we need to do is focus on getting Lucius's group thoroughly trained."

"Hopefully he gets with the program," Six answered, "The last thing the Illuminati needs right now is an idiotic stooge."

**The End**


	15. The Sorcerer's Game

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Hostile Negotiations".

The Sorcerer's Game

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Macbeth's Mansion**

"He didn't believe us," Arthur sighed as he looked down at his feet, completely perplexed.

"Yes," Merlin sighed, "Apparently he believes that we are his true enemies, either that or he thinks that we are incapable of telling the truth."

"But I've never heard you tell a lie," Arthur countered.

"That doesn't change one's perception of the truth," Merlin replied, "Those that do evil usually perceive their actions as good or just. But, that is not the point of our current situation."

Arthur nodded, "I suppose we'll have to find some other way of defeating Khan then."

"More like we'll have to defend ourselves against the Illuminati," Macbeth commented, "Six showed up fully ready to fight us. I think the only reason he didn't do so is because when you told him Khan's plans, he believes you told him your plans, and therefore, fighting at that time wasn't necessary."

"I'm inclined to agree," Merlin sighed, "Una and Leo did report that someone had gone through their business records while we were talking on the roof. Six had to have sent spies to get more information."

"We can't defeat all the Illuminati, can we?" Arthur questioned.

"No," Merlin, "Not if they decided to destroy us completely," Merlin answered, "You and Macbeth are brave and skilled warriors, but neither of you are invincible. The Illuminati do have skilled warriors of their own, and given the size of their organization, there is little that they can truly fear."

There was a short silence before Merlin continued.

"I am powerful in magic, and the gargoyles and Rachel posses great natural sense," Merlin continued, "And some Illuminati soldiers may be wary of Rachel for obvious reasons, but my magic can be countered. The gargoyles are helpless during the day, and Rachel is vulnerable to silver, including silver alloys. Most silver bullets that were actually used by werewolf hunters were only 25 to 50% silver. The rest was a lighter and more durable material that would allow the bullet to fly better."

There was a short silence again for a moment as Arthur and Macbeth didn't know what to say at the moment.

"Thankfully, the Illuminati prefer to keep their operation secret," Merlin answered, "If they believe us to be trying to reveal them, they will make sure that nothing they do to attack us gives us proof."

"Which means they won't go all out," Macbeth commented, "At least not in a setting where they are more likely to win."

"That might be our only advantage," Arthur commented, "At least until we can persuade them that it is Khan who is the enemy. Not us."

"We can try," Merlin nodded, "But I didn't have a tape recorder with me when Khan told me his plans, so we have no hard proof."

"Perhaps we could ask the Manhattan gargoyle who apparently so computer literate," Arthur suggested, "Lexington, I believe his name is. Perhaps he could hack into Khan's databases and find the information that way."

"For right now, I'd assume Khan is using the Illuminati's computer system," Merlin answered, "As smart as that webwing is, I doubt he would have enough access to get that far into the Illuminati network. In terms of dealing with Khan, right now, my best suggestion, Arthur is that we continue to monitor the situation and wait. I'll try to see if I can find out how involved the present Royal family is involved with the Illuminati and how much the past Royal families have been involved with the Illuminati."

"That's all you think we can do for now?" Arthur asked.

"I'm afraid so," Merlin sighed.

**Elsewhere**

"You didn't make an effort to capture or kill Merlin?" One asked over a video-conference system.

"He and Pendragon revealed their plans to me," Six answered, "As I have already told you."

Six watched as One paced on the screen. After a few moments the leader of the Council turned to face Six again.

"You're sure that Merlin has no real proof of our existence?" One questioned.

"All our investigations teams found were business records," Six answered, "None of which with members of the Illuminati."

"We must not assume that he doesn't have proof elsewhere," One reminded the lower ranking Council member, "Merlin must be eliminated as soon as possible. Pendragon and his other allies will be easy pickings without the wizard."

"Of course," Six agreed, "I will begin work on ridding us of our magician problem."

"Good," One said firmly and their link terminated.

Six then turned and picked up a phone that was nearby. After a few moments, Agent Anglo answered on the other end.

"Yes, my Lord?" Anglo spoke as he answered.

"I have a little job for Lucius to do," Six spoke in a commanding voice.

**The Next Day**

"Finally," Lucius said triumphantly, "They've finally consented to giving me a chance."

"But we are only supposed to deliver a message," one of his followers told him, "And we can't even deliver it until the sun goes down."

"Those gargoyles always travel in groups," Lucius answered.

"So?" the follower asked.

Lucius groaned and looked at his follower with a look of fierce frustration.

"How many men does it take to deliever a message?" Lucius questioned.

"One," the follower replied.

"Exactly," Lucius smiled, "We ambush the patrol team and give all of them the message. Kill all but one of them and leave the lone survivor to tell the message. It will reduce Pendragon's number of followers and will make them all go into morning as I doubt any of them could stomach losing a friend."

"Right," the follower answered, "Now, uh, Agent Anglo is here to supervise the remaining training exercises for the afternoon."

Lucius nodded and began to walk toward the main training area. His follower was close behind him.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

"So all we can do is watch?" Griff asked as he and the rest of the clan stood around Arthur.

"It is not something I am particularly fond of," Arthur admitted, "But I don't think there is much we can do. We need the Illuminati's resources to prepare for what Khan's planned, and while they do not believe us, we lack the strength to take on both at the same time."

"Who do you expect to attack first?" Julia questioned, "Khan or the Illuminati?"

"I do not know," Arthur answered, "I'd assume the Illuminati, but Khan could launch his plans at any moment."

"So, we should expect Khan's paratroopers at any time?" Chloe asked.

"I think Merlin said that he could appear at anytime," Gawain commented, "That doesn't necessarily mean that he could directly attack England at any time, does it?"

"His announcement is the greatest problem," Arthur nodded, "And that is what will come first. Taking out his paratroopers would be the easy part. Griff could easily give you tips on how to take down aircraft."

"I can try my best your majesty, but modern aircraft and the aircraft of the Blitz are two very different things," Griff answered.

"How so?" Lancelot asked curiously, as knowledge of aircraft was still a very new thing to the Avalon newcomers to the London clan.

"Well modern aircraft are much bigger," Griff answered, "The largest aircraft I ever faced in 1940 was Bf 110, and even that aircraft is tiny compared to modern fighters and modern fighters are tiny compared to what modern countries use for transport aircraft. You could probably pack any fighter used in World War II inside a 747."

"There's also the fact that modern aircraft are faster then World War two aircraft," Octavia added, "A modern 747 with its jet engines at full power could probably out run a Mustang, and the Mustang was one of the fastest aircraft of World War II. Modern fighter aircraft can reach speeds of nearly three times the speed of sound. The basic principles of bringing a plane down won't change, but the amount of work that must be put into bringing one down will."

"Sounds like we'll need to be learning more about math then," Chloe commented.

The group looked toward the forest green female with a look of confusion.

"Wouldn't we need to do some sort of mathematical calculation to figure out when to dive on an aircraft in order to arrive at the same point at the same time?" Chloe asked.

"I'd say just try to stay close enough in altitude that if you can react quickly, you're likely to make contact," Griff commented with a shrug, "If we were manning anti-aircraft guns, maybe, but from my understanding they aren't used anymore."

"In the meantime, I'd patrol as normal," Arthur spoke, "The Illuminati won't go all out against us and Khan doesn't know where we are, so isn't likely to go after Merlin again."

"Right-o, we'll see you later tonight," Griff answered.

Arthur nodded and turned to head out while Griff assigned patrol teams for the night. He then walked into another room and found Rachel, watching a nightly news program.

"Anything happen?" Arthur asked as he sat down.

"Nothing that would be an indication of Khan's activity," Rachel sighed, "Other then the continuing violence in Tibet, but that is no longer headline news."

**Later, Over London**

Griff, Octavia, and Chloe made a slow turn as they reached the end of London along the southern side of the Thames and prepared to turn around and head up the north side. The night had been rather quiet, with only a few minor crooks out, but that was nothing that couldn't be easily handled. They had just crossed the river when a lightning blast suddenly few between Griff and Octavia.

"What the devil?" Griff spoke in surprise and the group then looked down to see Lucius and five of his followers standing on the roof of a warehouse.

"Surprise, gargoyles!" Lucius screamed as he and his followers took to the air and began to glide toward them.

"Not you blighters again," Griff grumbled as he dodged Lucius's charge and kicked one of his followers, "You've sunk to ambushing our patrols in hopes of getting lucky?"

"Our primary objective is to relay a message," Lucius answered, "ambushing you is just one of the perks."

Lucius then dove down and grabbed Griff by his wrists, forcing the two into a dive back towards the warehouse roof. Griff landed hard, but quickly recovered and kicked Lucius off of him. The mutate that had he had earlier kicked then swooped low and hit Griff with an electric blast as he tried to get up.

"And what sort of sort of message about your 'glorious' new Rome that you wish us to deliver?" Griff gasped as he managed to pull himself up as Lucius and his follower approached from two sides.

"My message does not come from me, actually," Lucius replied, "But from a higher power."

"A higher power?" Griff questioned, "Don't tell me you've quit being a megalomaniac and are actually working for some one?"

Lucius threw a strong punch that Griff managed to dodge, and forced the griffon-like gargoyle to charge into Lucius's follower, knocking the mutate to the ground. Griff kicked the mutate again, to make sure he staid down and then turned to face Lucius again.

"Actually, I'm working WITH someone," Lucius answered and fired another electric blast, which Griff dodged, "not for someone."

"Alright, who are you working with?" Griff demanded.

"A group your precious Arthur has also recently angered," Lucius answered and fired another electric blast.

The blast knocked Griff back and he nearly fell off the roof, but managed to use his talons to prevent himself from falling.

"You're working for the Illuminati?" Griff growled.

Lucius nodded with a smile.

"And what do they want now?" Griff growled again.

"If Merlin wants to persuade Six to join his cause, he must meet with him at Stonehenge," Lucius spoke in a calm voice, "If he comes, Six promises to give unto Merlin one favor."

Lucius then threw another punch at Griff, who caught the punch, grabbed Lucius by the arm and slammed him to the ground.

"If they want to do Merlin a favor, why are you attacking us?" Griff demanded.

"That's because I am not your typical ally," Lucius replied, "I don't entirely know what all their plans are, but I still my own. I will establish my Terran Empire."

"Consider this another defeat then," Griff growled and landed a strong blow to Lucius's temple, knocking the mutate out.

Griff then took off to rejoin Octavia and Chloe and make sure they were alright. He found Octavia about a block away, just as she was finishing off the second of the two mutates that had jumped her. Some of her feathers were singed, but the Roman gargoyle was not seriously harmed.

"This is got to be the weirdest thing I've ever encountered," Octavia commented, "I've heard of enemies suddenly deciding to 'switch' sides when it suits their strategic goals, but actually switch sides while attacking you at the same time is quite another."

"Attacking us at this time was Lucius's idea," Griff commented, "He says he's working WITH the Illuminati not for them."

"Then it looks like he will be in trouble with his 'allies' then," Octavia commented, "The Illuminati won't like someone going beyond their orders."

"I'm not so sure," Griff answered, "Something about all this smells of a trap. I don't think the Illuminati would care what he did."

"Come on then," Octavia sighed, "Let's pick up Chloe out and get back to Arthur and Merlin. I'm sure they'll want to know about this."

Chloe was only two rooftops away and had held her two opponents to a draw, largely. They had her flanked from two sides, but she managed to avoid their electric blasts, which by a stroke of luck, hit the two mutates. Once they saw Griff and Octavia coming, the two mutates decided they had had enough and quickly fled the area. Chloe prepared to go after them, but Griff waived her off.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" Chloe asked.

"No," Griff answered, "Let them run back to the Illuminati. We have to let Merlin know what's going on."

**Later**

"A favor?" Merlin asked as Griff finished his report.

"That's what he said Six was prepared to give," Griff answered, "All he said you had to do was go to Stonehenge."

"A sense a trap," Macbeth answered sternly, "He was pretty firm in rejecting our opinion when we tried to contact him. Why would he offer to give Merlin another chance and even offer a favor now?"

"I agree, old friend," Arthur said to Merlin, "This whole thing doesn't sound right."

Merlin sighed, "I don't think we can ignore it though."

"Don't tell me you're actually considering to go, are you?" Rachel gasped in surprise.

"Khan is the larger enemy," Merlin reminded them, "The Illuminati, while not necessarily good, they are not entirely evil either. They only oppose us now because they think we are going to do what Khan is already doing."

"Then why walk into a trap?" Macbeth questioned, "Why not just wait and prepare for Khan's attack and then step in to make sure any damage he does is minimal. Then the Illuminati will be bound to believe us."

"By that time it may be too late," Merlin sighed, "Khan intends to reveal the Illuminati to the world. We have no idea how much chaos that will actually create, and we have no idea what the Illuminati will do to try and maintain their power. They may by then decide to go all out against anyone who they think conceivably threatens them."

"I still think this is too dangerous," Arthur said firmly, "We don't know the limits of the Illuminati's power."

"Which is why I request that you and Rachel come along," Merlin answered.

"What?" Arthur gasped.

"The Illuminati are likely to use sorcery to aide in whatever trap they intend to set," Merlin explained, "The enchantments and blessings on Excalibur and Rachel's abilities would allow you both to deal with whatever trap they had set."

"Excalibur is blessed?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "The Legionnaire aided the Lady of the Lake in forging the sword under the guise of a priest."

"Wouldn't it be best for some of the clan to come along?" Griff asked, "Or at least the knights?"

Merlin shook his head, "You will be needed to insure that London is safe. Lucius may try to ambush some patrol groups again tomorrow night while we are absent."

"There's no way we can talk you out of this, is there?" Rachel asked.

"No," Merlin answered, "You can not."

**Elsewhere, After Sunrise**

"You attacked the patrol group?" Anglo demanded, "That was not in the plan!"

"Your boss's message was delivered," Lucius growled back, "What do you care?"

"Your attack was not part of the plan," Anglo answered, "The plan was merely to deliver a message to the gargoyles who would then relay it Merlin and Arthur. They're now bound to relay the information about your attack as well."

"So?" Lucius growled.

"So?" Anglo questioned back, "They're bound to know it's a trap now and are likely not to come. Which means that Six's entire plan has been wasted."

"I have my own plans to carry out," Lucius reminded the Illuminati agent, "And they largely involve the end of Arthur and his followers."

"And without Merlin backing them, you would stand a better chance," Anglo countered, "Now you've not only failed in accomplishing you own goals, you've screwed up our plans as well."

Lucius growled bringing his fists to a full electric charge and advanced toward Anglo. The Illuminati agent did his best to hide his fear. He feared the mutate's strength, but he feared Six and the Council more, and reached for a gun he kept under his table. If Lucius tried anything, Anglo would be fully ready to strike back.

"You know, you once spoke to me that I didn't treat you fairly," Lucius growled, "I'm now getting the suspicion that I'm not being treated fairly. I was told to follow your plan as you planned it, and now, I'm not allowed to get what I want. Perhaps you ought to explain things more thoroughly before you make alliances, or send you 'allies' out to do meaningless work."

"Who told you your work was meaningless?" came Six's voice from the doorway.

Lucius pointed at both Six and at Anglo.

"Both of you," Lucius growled, "You 'ask' me to deliver a message and now you tell me I can't take what I want!"

"He did deliver the message, but he also attacked the patrol team he came across," Anglo reported, "Merlin is certain to suspect, and our trap has been wasted."

"Not necessarily," Six spoke in a low tone, and then gestured to Lucius, "I'm sorry for Anglo's temper. I would request that you return to your training area now."

Lucius grumbled something in a low voice and then walked out very slowly. He did not look remotely happy as he did so.

"What was that about?" Anglo demanded, "Why'd you apologize to him? He fouled up the plan."

"As I said earlier, not necessarily," Six answered.

"I don't understand, my Lord," Anglo spoke.

"I felt a great amount of desperation in both Merlin and his allies when they made their first attempt to persuade me to let them live," Six explained.

"That doesn't mean that they're desperate enough to knowingly walk into a trap just to try and prove something," Anglo warned.

"You never know," Six countered, "If Merlin doesn't show up, it means that he's not as desperate as I thought, which means the plan might not have even worked even if Lucius did his job correctly."

"You need to be more careful in how you treat him," Anglo whimpered, "Every time we restrict his actions, he gets angry and I feel like I'm going to be electrocuted."

"You needn't worry about him," Six answered, "He is a fool, but controllable. And perhaps the time is coming when we must let him go all out against Pendragon and the let them whittle his forces down to a size where they will have no choice but to submit to our law."

**Stonehenge, Night**

Rachel slowly sniffed the area around the ancient monument, her tail slowly moving back and forth behind her.

"Anything?" Arthur asked.

"I don't smell anything," Rachel answered, "That doesn't mean that there is no one there. If all Merlin's talk of magic is accurate, then someone could have merely used some spell to hide their scent."

"You're still sure you want to do this?" Arthur asked Merlin.

"Of course," Merlin nodded, "Besides, the Illuminati have gone through a lot of effort to keep all the tourists away and given us permission to get close. Might as well make sure that their work wasn't wasted."

Arthur and Rachel shared glances at each other, shrugged and then followed Merlin into the massive stone monument. They eventually found the robed man that had identified himself as Six waiting for them in the center of the monument.

"This was to be private meeting," Six said in a firm voice, "You were not to bring Pendragon and his pet along."

"I'm not his pet!" Rachel growled baring her fangs.

Six only chuckled in response.

"I suspected that this was all a trap," Merlin answered, "They are here to deal with whoever you have hiding in the shadows while I try to convince you that we are not lying."

"You were right to suspect a trap," Six smiled from under his hood, "But wrong to assume I have accomplices in this trap."

Six then raised his hands and fired two blasts of lighting from them at Arthur and Rachel. The blasts were strong enough to throw both the Once and Future King and the female werewolf out of the monument.

"Arthur! Rachel!" Merlin called out and moved to help them.

Six merely pulled out a small bag from inside his robes and spread the dust around the site around him. Merlin coughed as the dust enveloped him, but felt no pain or any other sort of effect. But once the dust hit the stone slabs, symbols that Merlin knew only existed on Avalon appeared, creating a force field around the monument. Merlin tentatively pressed a hand against an open space and was suddenly flung back into the center of the monument.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Six commented.

"So you know sorcery," Merlin commented, "I'm surprised the Mage has let you live. He never brought the Archmage into your little circle."

"The Archmage was never invited because the Mage sensed his more direct tendencies when he finished his training," Six answered, "The Illuminati is a secret society. We don't like to do things in the open. And secret manipulations of governments are something I did best."

Merlin looked at Six for a moment and then at the great stones around him.

"How?" Merlin asked, "I've known that Stonehenge holds some mystical powers, but even I've never discovered them all."

"That's because you do not know the history of Stonehenge," Six answered, "The real history, anyway."

Merlin looked at him with a semi-puzzled look on his face, "It's a sort of calendar isn't' it?"

"That's what the early Britons used it for, before Claudius brought the Julian calendar from Gaul to Britain," Six answered, "That's not what it was constructed to do."

There was a short pause as Six then began to walk around Merlin.

"Do you know how Stonehenge was built?" Six asked.

"Not precisely," Merlin answered, "It had already been standing when I was born, and from my conversations with the Legionnaire, it had been standing when Caesar first ventured to Britain, although why the Legionnaire had come this far is beyond me."

"It was built by the Unseelie to help them in their war against Oberon," Six answered, "During the first Unseelie War."

There was a brief pause in the conversation.

"The Unseelies created Stonehenge and used it to drain the energies of any Seelie they captured," Six continued, "Largely as they never had any members who were powerful enough to literally pull the magic out of another fey."

"How do you know this?" Merlin questioned.

"The Unseelie made multiple contacts with the Illuminati, largely as they thought that since the Mage was fighting the Seelie Court that his organizations would be easily controllable by them," Six answered, "Madoc never seemed to notice when we would capture one of his followers, torture, and finally kill him."

"So you intend to drain me of my energies then," Merlin answered, "You do realize it will do the same to you?"

"I am not half fey, as you are, Merlin," Six answered, "The spell will do nothing to me. I'm afraid our game is at an end, and I have won!"

Outside the stone monument, Arthur and Rachel slowly pulled themselves up to their feet. Arthur groaned slightly with pain as he did so.

"He's a sorcerer too," Rachel growled as she got up and looked back toward the monument and, if it was visible through her fur, paled, "Uh, Arthur…"

Arthur looked up to see an energized barrier around the massive stones of the monument. He then rushed toward them, Rachel close behind him. When they arrived at the area where they could look into the center of monument, they found Merlin laying on the ground with Six standing triumphantly over him.

"Merlin!" Arthur screamed and slammed Excalibur against the energy field.

The blow did was generate sparks and force Arthur to take a few steps back. Rachel gave a low growl and then decided to go over the energy field and leaped on top of one of the stone monuments. To her surprise, the field extended around the top of Stonehenge as well. Six then hit her with another lightning spell, knock her back to the ground.

"Rachel?" Arthur asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Rachel sighed, "But the field goes around the top too, and I don't think I could tunnel fast enough to get to Merlin in time."

At the same time, the energy field dissipated and Six began to walk toward them.

"You are too late in either account," Six said triumphantly.

Arthur raised Excalibur and pointed the weapon at the Illuminati Council member.

"You villain!" Arthur growled, "What have you done to Merlin."

Six looked back at Merlin, who lay face down in the center of the monument and then laughed.

"That is for you to find out," Six laughed and then vanished out of sight before Arthur could thrust Excalibur through his neck.

With Six gone, Arthur and Rachel then rushed forward to try and make sure Merlin was okay. Thankfully he still had a pulse and was breathing normally, but he was unconscious.

"What should we do?" Rachel asked.

"We get him back to London," Arthur answered, "The police will probably be arriving soon to investigate the lights and possible trespassers. We need to get out of here."

Rachel then lifted Merlin up into her arms and turned to run out.

"I'll meet you back at the car," Rachel spoke and dashed off.

**Agent Anglo's Office**

Anglo looked up with some surprise when he saw Six appear in his office without prior announcement. It didn't take him too long to recover from his surprise, however.

"How did it go, my Lord?" Anglo asked.

"Very well," Six answered with a smile, "Merlin was in deed desperate enough to walk into the trap. He babbled on about how it is all Khan's doing, but in the end, he failed. Both to persuade me and to escape the trap."

"What do we do now, my Lord?" Anglo asked.

"We might not have to do anything," Six answered, "Without Merlin, Arthur is powerless."

**Macbeth's Mansion, Dawn**

"I told you it wasn't a wise idea," Macbeth grumbled as Arthur sat quietly in his chair, sipping a cup of tea and eating his breakfast.

"I didn't think it was an entirely wise decision, either, but Merlin felt he could persuade him," Arthur answered, "and he is far wiser then either of us combined."

"And he's now unconscious and we don't know if what Six did has done anything else to him," Macbeth answered.

It was then that they noticed Rachel step into the room. Arthur looked up hopefully.

"Merlin's awake," Rachel said in a weak voice, "He said he wants to speak to you."

Arthur was up in a hurry and moving toward Merlin's room. Macbeth and Rachel followed slowly behind. They found Merlin sitting up in his bed with a rather defeated look in his eyes.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm not in danger of dying anytime soon, if that is what you mean," Merlin sighed in response.

"We feared the worst when we saw you laying unconscious," Arthur spoke, "It is good to see that Six didn't kill you."

"His trap was not designed to kill me," Merlin responded.

"What?" Macbeth asked.

"I feel like such a fool for falling for his rouse," Merlin spoke weakly.

"We may need the Illuminati's help to defeat Khan," Arthur answered, "It's not your fault they can't believe an honest person."

"My honesty is not the problem now," Merlin replied.

"Why?" Rachel asked, "What is it?"

"I can't feel my magic," Merlin spoke to hear the horrified gasps in response.

**To Be Continued…**


	16. Powerless

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "The Sorcerer's Game".

Powerless

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Macbeth's Mansion**

"What?!" Arthur exclaimed looking extremely worried.

"I can't feel my magic Arthur," Merlin answered, "Six used Stonehenge to rob me of my powers."

"That can't be possible," Arthur spoke, in complete denial, "You're the most powerful wizard on the planet. That can't be possible."

"I'm sorry Arthur, but such things are quite possible," Merlin answered, "Remembered back to the end of the Unseelie War? Titania essentially had several of the leading Unseelie fey become mortal fey. They were still immortal in the fact that they would not age, and they even gained some strengths as iron would no longer affect them as it once did, but they could be killed by any way that would normally kill a normal person, and it also removed their ability to cast spells."

"But you're human," Rachel commented, "From what you've explained to me, Titania is the most powerful fey on the planet. You're the most powerful human magician on the planet. Shouldn't Six have been overpowered?"

"I'm not the most powerful," Merlin sighed, "Just the most popular. I'm also half fey. I use mortal spells as that's how I was educated, but that's not where my power comes from."

"But you're still more powerful then Six is," Arthur spoke, "He shouldn't have been able to drain you of you powers."

"He didn't," Merlin answered, "Stonehenge did."

"Pardon?" Macbeth asked.

"Apparently Stonehenge was created by the Unseelie Court during the first Unseelie War as some sort of tool to rob Seelie fey of their powers," Merlin explained, "And because I am a half fey, it effected me as well."

"Is there any way to undo this?" Arthur asked sounding nervous, and still barely believing that his childhood mentor had lost his powers.

"I do not know," Merlin answered, "We would need Six's exact spell in order to even begin and we don't even know where he is staying in England."

"This is just great," Arthur sighed, "Just great. Now we need to find where he's hiding."

"All we can do is look," Merlin sighed, "And I will do my best to check my research. There might be something in there that I have missed. Una might also have some information that would be worthwhile."

**Elsewhere**

"You're leaving?" Agent Anglo asked.

"Arthur is beaten," Six answered as he looked over at the Illuminati agent, "Without Merlin's power there is nothing he can do to defeat the full power of the Illuminati. My mission here is done."

"What do you wish me to do about the situation that remains, sir?" Anglo asked.

"The Council will expect you to continue your efforts to defeat Arthur and his allies," Six answered, "But my presence is no longer necessary."

"Very well, sir," Anglo answered.

"Good luck, Agent," Six responded as he left the office.

As Six left, Anglo silently sighed to himself. He was really out of options for dealing with Arthur and his allies. Lucius and his mutates were his best shot, but while they were still in the process of being trained for the final battle, they weren't of much use at the moment.

"Perhaps some sort of robotic device might work," Anglo mused to himself silently, "But that would require either placing orders to New York or Japan, which I would need the Council's approval for."

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Merlin sighed quietly as he placed one of his books back on the shelf. It had been fairly high up and he had to get on a step ladder in order to reach it. It was generally one of those moments that he would have used his magic to just levitate the book to him. It made him feel weak and insignificant. He never realized before just how important his powers were to him, until now, when he no longer had them.

"I wonder if this is how Chloe felt when we had to switch forms," Merlin thought to himself.

He then sighed again as he moved his ladder to get another book. As with his earlier research in attempts to figure out the prophecies related to Britain's Greatest Hour of Need, he hadn't found much that related to the mystical connections to Stonehenge, and most of them were more closely related to the various calendar systems then anything else. But he was determined to find out some sort of information. So much so in fact that he did not know the sun had set or that Una had quietly entered his study.

"Excuse me, Merlin?" Una spoke up from the doorway, "Are you alright?"

Merlin jumped a little bit, not used to not having his magic allow him to almost automatically sense the presence of anyone who came near him. He quickly sighed.

"Una, I didn't know you were there," Merlin spoke, trying to hide his nervousness, "Dusk already?"

"Yes," Una answered, "Arthur's already told us about what Six has done to you. Are you alright?"

"About as well as a man born half fey before the year 500 and lived his entire life with magical abilities can be after he's suddenly lost them," Merlin answered as he slumped deeper into his chair.

"That bad?" Una asked.

"I'm still trying to adjust to everything," Merlin answered, "being powerless is rather new sensation for me."

"I would not say powerless," Una commented, "Maybe not as strong as you were before, but certainly not powerless."

Merlin looked up.

"You have great wisdom, and as the saying goes, 'knowledge is power'," Una explained, "Plus the fact that you were trained in human sorcery, in theory you should still be able to practice magic."

"Yes but I used my fey abilities as my power source," Merlin answered, "Without something like the Grimorum, I can not do magic."

"Yes, you need a conduit, like any other mortal sorcerer," Una answered, "But you do not need a book like the Grimorum. Any object that can channel magical energies will do."

Una then held up the charm on her necklace that served as her conduit to serve as an example.

"True, but that is probably the only one of its kind that you have," Merlin pointed out.

Una sighed, "That doesn't make it the end of the world. Such items are far more common then one would think."

"You're probably right," Merlin answered, "I hid many such items away, largely to try and keep them out of the hands of Morgan le Fey, but I suppose I could search for them now… but then, I would need someone to open the barriers I placed on them, as without my magic they are not accessible."

"I would be more then willing to help," Una answered, "So is everyone else."

"I don't think there is much that they can do," Merlin sighed.

"I wouldn't say that to Arthur or Griff," Una warned, "Arthur has obviously been thinking of anything he could possibly do to reverse what Six has done, and Griff has already left to go looking for him."

"They are good people… person and gargoyle," Merlin nodded slowly.

"Always were, always are, and always will be," Una spoke.

"And hopefully we find a way to reverse what Six did," Merlin nodded again, "Finding a conduit might work for the short term, but when Britain's Greatest Hour of Need comes, I will need to be at full strength."

"Don't worry," Una assured the medieval wizard, "With all of us helping you, you can not fail."

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Arthur was involved in a very different conversation.

"I don't think this is a good plan," Arthur commented, "They're bound to know who you are and will try to kill you, again."

"We have their werewolf," Rachel countered, "They're bound to want a new one; I'm sure that I could get in and find out what we need to know."

"Six knows magic, he's bound to sense what you're up to," Arthur countered.

"Maybe, but I could just say that I'm there hoping for a cure," Rachel argued, "He'd then think that I'm some stupid ditz and that Merlin didn't teach me anything about lycanthropy."

"It's still too dangerous," Arthur answered, "and I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't," Rachel replied, somewhat weakly as she noticed concern in his eyes, "I mean, if he does anything would truly put me in danger, I'd flee immediately."

"We'll find some other way, Rachel," Arthur answered, "Please trust me."

"I just want to help," Rachel told him.

"Do not worry, you've helped simply by being here and helping produce some ideas," Arthur answered, "I just do think that going 'undercover' in this case would be one of them."

**Elsewhere, Over London**

Griff and his group had again found no major sign of any member of the Illuminati. The fact that they had hidden themselves away so well already frustrated him, but the fact that they had no tricked Merlin into putting himself in a position where he could lose his power, no frustrated him even more.

"These Illuminati are really starting to make me mad," Griff growled, "They come out of nowhere and pull a dirty trick and then they hide."

"Best way to fight a foe they can't beat in the field," Octavia commented, "Strike when and where they least expect it and then disappear. But London is not an unlimited city and the Illuminati are only an organization of mortal beings. They're bound to make some mistake sooner or later."

Almost as if on cue, Griff looked down to see a man gazing upward from an alley below them. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but the man quickly ducked down into the alley where he couldn't be seen almost as soon as he saw that Griff had seen him.

"What luck," Griff commented, "I think we found one."

Griff and Octavia then backed down toward the alley, and found the man scrambling around trying to find a fire escape or an exit onto the street, but the man was finding that to be very difficult.

"Going somewhere, chap?" Griff asked as he landed on one side of the man and Octavia landed on the other.

The man screamed and tried to bolt away, but Griff managed to grab him by the collar and hold him up in the air.

"Now, you wouldn't be running off now would you?" Griff asked, "All we want to do is talk."

The two gargoyles then slowly approached the wall and began to scale it while the man still cowered in fear in Griff's grasp. Once they got to the roof the man finally spoke.

"Don't hurt me!" the man begged.

"That is not our intention," Griff answered.

"Who are you?" Octavia asked.

"Jeremy Irons," the man spoke weakly looking down at the ground below.

"What do you know about the Illuminati?" Griff asked him as he held Irons over the edge of the building.

"I don't work for them," Irons answered in a nervous manner.

"Good to know, but that wasn't my question," Griff pointed out, "I wanted to know what YOU know."

Irons gulped.

"What do you know about the Illuminati?" Octavia demanded, repeating Griff's earlier question.

"Do you know what they'll do to me if I tell?" Irons asked, knowing that his cover had been blown.

"Do you know what we'll do if you don't?" Griff asked back, gambling that he wouldn't know that they wouldn't intentionally kill him.

Irons looked down at the ground below and panicked.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk," Irons spoke quickly, "Don't kill me."

"What is your job in the Illuminati?" Griff questioned.

"Intelligence," Irons gulped, "I'm responsible for gathering all the information that is required about particular situations in the London area."

"And who do you report to?" Octavia demanded.

"A man called Agent Anglo," Irons spoke quickly, "He's a prominent businessman, but I don't know his real name."

"Where is his office?" Griff asked.

"It's on the north east side of London," Irons answered quickly, "The tallest building in the area."

"Thank you," Griff spoke with a smile, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No," Irons shrugged weakly.

Griff and Octavia then took off, carrying Irons with them. He began screaming bloody murder as Griff carried him through the air.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to drop you, but we can't have you go warn Agent Anglo that we're coming," Griff said calmly, "You'll be perfectly safe."

**The Mansion, Half an hour later**

"You're sure he told the truth?" Macbeth asked as the door to the second 'cell' was closed behind Irons.

"Positive," Griff answered, "He seemed quite frightened by being so high up, I doubt he had the courage to try and either cover up his connections or deny his connections."

"Either way it is an opportunity," Arthur commented, "They've remained hidden from us so long, we've now finally got a chance to confront their leadership."

"And if he's correct in saying that he's the local intelligence gatherer, in all likelihood, Six will be at the same headquarters building," Octavia commented, "That would allow for better coordination."

"So what is to be the overall plan for this raid?" Merlin asked.

"We will go in, knock out Agent Anglo and put Six in a position where his magic won't help him," Arthur explained, "We will need to move quickly, but with the element of surprise, we should be successful."

"And who will be going with you?" Merlin asked.

"Since the rest of the clan is on patrol, I will take Griff and Octavia, as well as Rachel and Macbeth," Arthur answered, "That should provide us with sufficient numbers to deal with even the most basic security."

"Remember not to bite off more then you can chew," Merlin warned, "If it is an office building, it's bound to have some sort of security."

"Of course," Arthur nodded.

**Anglo's Office, One Hour Later**

Anglo looked at his watch with a heavy sigh as he saw it was nearly midnight. He had been waiting to Jeremy Irons to deliver his report on Arthur's activities for the night, but the spy had been more then an hour late. Irons had never been late before, and the Illuminati leader was beginning to become nervous that something had happened to him.

His fears were seemingly confirmed when one of his security men flew threw the door, with an electrical charge pushing him. He reached into his drawer to pull out his gun as Macbeth lead Arthur and a furious looking female werewolf into his office.

"On the ground, all of you!" Anglo demanded as he drew his gun, only to have it shot out of his hands by Macbeth's electric blaster.

Anglo then turned to flee, only to see two gargoyles crash through the window that was behind his desk and land right in front of him. The female, dressed in armor and resembling an eagle, right down to her tail-feathers, grabbed him by the collar and held him in the air.

"Where is Six?" Arthur demanded from behind him.

"He's not here!" Anglo answered, paralyzed with fear.

"Where is he?" Arthur asked.

"He's left," Anglo said quickly, "Returned to the Council this morning."

"He's left?" Arthur asked, almost sounding defeated.

"Yes," Anglo answered.

"I assume you know what he did to Merlin?" Macbeth questioned stepping closer to where Anglo was being held up in the air.

"Yes, he lured him to Stonehenge to use its original purpose and drain Merlin of his fey powers," Anglo answered.

"Is it reversible?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know," Anglo answered, "He only told me there's one spell to activate it and that that it would remove Merlin's powers."

"Did he have any documentation on the spell?" Macbeth asked, "Or its wording?"

"Maybe," Anglo answered nervously, "I do not really know for sure."

"Where would we go to check?" Macbeth asked.

"On my desk, in the drawers, in the filing cabinets," Anglo responded nervously, "Anywhere really."

"We better start looking," Arthur sighed and began rummaging through a pile of papers on Anglo's desk.

"You'd better hurry," Rachel commented, "I hear footsteps. I think it's night security."

"HELP!" Anglo screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Great," Griff muttered and slammed Anglo against the wall and then rushed for the door, "We'll keep them occupied."

Octavia and Rachel followed. Once out in the hallway Rachel took the lead.

"You sure you want to lead?" Griff asked, "The last thing we want is to create another werewolf."

"I'm not going to bite or claw them," Rachel answered, "But they're bound to have a gun, but the bullets won't be silver. I can be 'killed' by any non-silver round and survive. You could be killed by any bullet. I'll provide a better distraction for you to get closer."

At that moment, two men, each holding hand guns came running around the corner of the hallway. One took one look at Rachel and the two gargoyles behind her and fainted. The other fired two shots, but his fear was so bad that one shot hit the wall halfway between him and his intended target, and the other nearly hit his own foot.

Rachel gave a powerful roar and leaped at the guard and landed a blow that knocked him to the ground. She landed on all fours to see that he had fallen backwards over the other security guard and was knocked out. She quickly raised her head she heard more footsteps coming. Griff and Octavia also moved forward to make sure that any security couldn't catch Arthur or Macbeth.

Meanwhile, Arthur and Macbeth frantically looked through the office. Neither had found anything on the desk and Arthur was now going through the drawers that the desk had. Macbeth was going through a filling cabinet in the corner of the room.

"Find anything?" Arthur asked, sounding nervous.

"Only business records so far," Macbeth grumbled, "None of this mentions anything specifically on the Illuminati's activities."

Arthur sighed and moved to a small filing cabinet that was below the shattered window. Opening it up he looked rather surprised at the first file that was visible to him. It was titled 'Lucius: Mutates'.

"I think I found the right filing cabinet," Arthur commented.

Macbeth came over as Arthur continued flipping through files. Eventually he came to one marked 'Present to Six'.

"This will have to be it, as it's the last one," Arthur commented.

Arthur took out the file and placed it inside his jacket and turned to see Rachel, Griff, and Octavia return.

"Did you find anything?" Griff asked.

"We believe so," Arthur answered, "We can leave now."

"That's good, because they got guys who aren't normal security coming," Griff answered.

**Macbeth's Mansion, Next Day**

Merlin sighed as he put the folder down and gave a heavy sigh. He was exhausted, thanks to his lack of magical abilities. It again made him wish he still had his powers. While he could still feel tired, he could at least rely on his magic to keep him energized. Now he felt like he was going to fall asleep in the chair he was seated in. Thankfully however, the folder that Arthur and Macbeth had recovered from the Illuminati was providing some very enlightening information.

While the folder did not contain the wording of the spell that Six had used, it did seem to indicate that the spell could be reversible. Unfortunately, it didn't indicate how that could be done or what kind of magic was needed to perform the spell.

"So, is this all reversible?" Arthur asked as he sipped from a coffee mug.

"It would appear so, at least from what is in this folder," Merlin answered, "Although, this only contains partial information. It would be better if I could get some more information on all of this."

"I'm afraid that is the only file that they had," Arthur answered, "And since Six has apparently left England, I doubt we can get any information from him."

"And my library here doesn't cover the topic," Merlin sighed, "And that is only the beginning of our problems."

"Beginning?" Arthur asked.

"Even if we find a way to reverse what Six has done, it is likely that I will have to cast the spell myself," Merlin explained, "And without my fey abilities, I will need to find something that will work as a conduit."

"Like the Grimorum Arcanorum, the book you told me about?" Arthur asked.

"Not quite that powerful, but yes," Merlin answered, "Which means we may end up on another quest, in addition to the one we've had to add already."

"We won't fail you, Merlin," Arthur vowed, "The clan, Rachel and Macbeth, and I, we are all behind you."

"I don't think I will need everyone's help, but thank you," Merlin replied.

**Anglo's Office**

"They what?" Six's voice screamed through the phone that Anglo was using to contact him.

"They are trying to reverse what you did to Merlin," Anglo answered, "They took the information files you had me gather on Stonehenge."

"Do they know the wording to the spell?" Six asked.

"No," Anglo replied, "That was one of the things they wanted to know from me."

"Then we should have no serious concerns," Six spoke, "Without the wording or some outside information on what must be done to reverse Stonehenge's Unseelie links, it would take Merlin a hundred years. You need not worry."

"What about you?" Anglo asked.

"I will be taking the appropriate steps to make sure that Merlin does not get lucky," Six answered, "Maintain basic surveillance of Arthur and his allies for the time being."

**Macbeth's Mansion, Evening**

"So it could be reversible?" Leo asked as the group gathered around Merlin in the kitchen.

"That is what all the research appears to point to," Merlin answered, "But I need more information. And since there aren't any human records of the first Unseelie War, figuring out how Six's spell works might be rather difficult."

"There is the Seelie Court," Lancelot commented.

"Hmm?" Merlin asked.

"Titania's Court might know something about what Six has done," Lancelot answered, "Especially if Stonehenge was built by the Unseelies during the first Unseelie War."

"That actually wouldn't be too bad an idea," Merlin mused, "It also might clarify if its affects are in fact reversible if we can find a Seelie fey that had been subjected to it and later regained his or her powers."

"Thank you," Lancelot answered.

"Who will be going with you?" Guinevere asked.

"Arthur and Rachel will be needed to deal with any Illuminati opposition we may run into along the way," Merlin spoke, "And I will need Una's help in dealing with the process of restoring my powers."

"You're going with him, Arthur?" Griff asked.

"I feel I have to," Arthur answered, "As Merlin has been a friend to me, long before I became 'King' Arthur. I trust you can insure the safety of London?"

"Right-o," Griff nodded, "Nothing will get by me. Besides, if Una goes, Leo will need the company."

"You're sure you want to do this?" Leo asked his mate quietly.

"I have to," Una answered, "Arthur and Rachel do not posses magical talent, and until Merlin can find a conduit, he can not do magic himself."

"You'll be safe right?" Leo questioned.

"Probably safer then you will be with Griff," Una joked.

"My war stories aren't that bad," Griff grumbled.

"But they are repetitive," Leo answered with a grin.

"May we come along?" Gawain asked as he and Lancelot stepped forward.

"I believe you would be best served aiding Sir Griff," Arthur answered, "Especially since our raid last night is bound to anger the Illuminati in some way or form."

"Don't worry," Griff told the two Avalon males, whom Arthur had knighted, "I'm sure there will be plenty of excitement here."

"You will say hello to our brothers and sisters for us on Avalon?" Guinevere asked.

"Of course," Arthur answered.

Half an hour later, Arthur and Rachel slowly lowered a small wooden boat into the Thames river while Una and Merlin kept watch for any possible interlopers.

"It will be interesting to see if Avalon has changed since I was awakened there," Arthur commented, "Considering the second Unseelie uprising and all."

"I wouldn't know," Rachel answered him, "This would actually be my first visit. Are you sure it's real?"

"As real as you and I are," Arthur answered.

"Wow," Rachel said, half in awe.

Arthur nodded and turned his attention back to Merlin and Una who were now approaching the boat.

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked.

"As ready as I would every be," Merlin commented as he hopped into the boat, "Never thought I would be visiting Avalon again."

"You don't like the island?" Una asked.

"I've never liked the fact that the only season they have there is summer," Merlin replied, "There is beauty in each of the seasons."

"We should get going before we're spotted," Arthur commented.

"Of course," Una nodded and moved to the bow of the ship and held her hands out wide, "Vocante venti fortunate ex rege Oberonis et hic navis flugem regate ad orae Avalonis."

The boat was then covered in mist and they disappeared into it.

**To Be Continued…**


	17. The Cure

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Powerless".

The Cure

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Avalon's Shore**

The mist dissipated to reveal calm waters surrounding an almost tropical looking island.

"This is Avalon?" Rachel asked looking at it from the boat.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "The island of eternal summer."

"Do you think they know if we've arrived?" Una asked curiously as they saw no sign of anyone waiting for them.

Almost as if on cue, a larger ship suddenly appeared with three women in identical clothing standing on the side of the ship. Their appearance forced the small boat that Arthur and his group were in to come to a complete stop.

"And what is it that brings you here, Merlin?" Phoebe spoke first, leading the Weird Sisters in their questioning.

"The sleeping king is awake and with you," Luna added.

"And the bargain for 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' would only allow our help if the sleeping king were still asleep," Selene finished.

"We must speak with Queen," Merlin answered, "I promise you we are not here to attack Avalon."

"Your king is armed," Selene spoke.

"You are here with the gargoyle who knows magic," Phoebe added.

"And you've brought a lycan with you," Luna finished.

"Lycan? As in lycanthrope, as in werewolf?" Rachel asked, "how do you know I'm…"

"We are fey, we know far more then will ever learn," Luna answered, "And I can recognize my son's curse anywhere."

"Who are you?" Rachel asked.

"I am Luna," Luna answered, "with my sisters, we make the Weird Sisters."

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," Rachel spoke, "Please let us come in."

"Why are you here?" the Sisters asked in unison.

"Merlin has lost his powers," Arthur answered, "We were hoping that Queen Titania would be able to provide us with the information we need to reverse what has been done, if it is reversible."

The Weird Sisters looked at each other and then looked at Merlin. Each group stood quietly looking at each other for several minutes. After a few moments the Weird Sisters changed their facial expressions to ones that conveyed a deep sense of fear.

"We will announce your arrival," the Sisters said in unison, "Please proceed along the main path to the palace."

Then in a flash, the ship that the sisters were on, as well as the Weird Sisters themselves vanished into nothingness, leaving the small rowboat adrift in the water.

"What was that all about?" Rachel asked.

"The Weird Sisters are generally Avalon's guardians," Merlin explained, "It's their job to make sure that no one unwanted on the island gets on the island."

"From the way they were questioning us, it would appear that no one is welcome on the island," Arthur commented, "Were they like this when you brought me here to sleep?"

"Worse, as Oberon didn't want anyone, especially anyone connected to me on his island," Merlin answered.

"Why is that?" Una asked.

"It's a long story," Merlin sighed.

**Avalon, early Sixth Century**

"Will this really save him, Merlin?" Lancelot asked as he looked down on the presently sleeping form of his king, "The wounds he's sustained are serious."

"If we can get him to the Hollow Hill, he should be fine, so long as the incantation is correct," Merlin answered, "That is not our concern. Our concern is whether or not the inhabitants of Avalon will allow it."

"What do you mean 'allow it'?" another of the few surviving knights that had survived the battle with Mordred asked.

"Avalon is not uninhabited," Merlin answered, "It is the island Kingdom of the Third Race."

"These beings of magic?" Lancelot asked, "Could they not revive Arthur?"

"Yes, but that is less likely to happen," Merlin answered, "I am not on the best of terms with their leader."

Lancelot and the second knight raised an eyebrow in curiosity when the fog suddenly cleared and a blue skinned man in ornate armor appeared out of the fog.

"That is putting it mildly," Oberon spoke in an aggravated voice, "What warrants this invasion of my shores?"

"We seek not to invade anyone," Lancelot spoke up.

"You were not invited and are not wanted," Oberon answered in a voice that sounded threatening, "That IS an invasion."

"We come to ask you of a favor, Lord Oberon," Merlin spoke, "Nothing that will interfere with you or your court."

"And why should I grant you this boon?" Oberon questioned, "Particularly to one who does not obey my commands."

"We may be related by blood, Oberon, but I am still only a halfling," Merlin replied, "You can not command me as you would one of your Court."

"Maybe so, but you are far to involved in human affairs, and that will lead to the destruction of my court and my people," Oberon answered, "Therefore, Merlin, you are a threat to the Seelie Court."

"Any damage done to your court in the future will not be done by my hand," Merlin answered, "believe it or not."

"Why should I grant you this boon?" Oberon demanded again.

"The fate of your court and the world could be at stake if my visions are correct," Merlin answered, "allowing Arthur Pendragon to sleep in the Hollow Hill until Britain's Greatest Hour of Need would be in your best interest."

"The future is never certain," Oberon answered, "Even the Weird Sisters have 'seen' things that have not come to pass."

"But none of those things were connected to a major prophecy, and even still the prophecy itself is not set in stone as to what it is," Merlin answered, "I need to get Arthur into the Hollow Hill and quickly, if he is to be around to be awakened again later."

"And why must he get there so quickly?" Oberon questioned, hoping to avoid telling Merlin 'no'.

"Can't you see that he was critically wounded?" Lancelot finally snapped, "Merlin says that hill might be the only place that can prevent him from dying."

"And I would have thought you would want him dead, seeing as you have spent years involved in an adulterous affair with your King's wife," Oberon answered back.

Lancelot backed down. His affair with Guinevere and the resulting feud between him and Arthur over it shamed him, and he was desperately trying to atone for his sins by helping Merlin in this particular mission. He would see to it that Arthur could be saved.

"I am a fool, my Lord," Lancelot finally answered, "But Arthur is my friend. Despite my foolishness, I could never let him face death."

"Hm," Oberon answered, "It is good that you admit your flaws, but that is not enough to persuade me that he should be allowed further entrance into my kingdom."

"I would think that saving your race would be more then reason enough," came a feminine sounding voice.

A green skinned female fey then appeared out of the mist, startling Lancelot and the other knight that Merlin had found to bring with him. She wore ornate garb and seemed much more peaceful then the stern faced Oberon.

"It is most likely to come from Merlin's hand," Oberon argued, "It is unwise to allow him entrance."

"Merlin has done more to preserve and protect your throne then any human wizard that knows of our existence," Titania pointed out, "Why do you suppose the Mage hasn't made any headway into directly bringing Britain under his influence? Why has he done so much to aide the Lady of the Lake."

"He has aided her because of her fascination with Pendragon and the mortals that live in Britain," Oberon answered, "It is self-interest."

"I do not think so," Titania answered, "Perhaps he can explain."

"Arthur was wounded in battle against Mordred, and thankfully has not yet succumbed to his wounds," Merlin answered, "However, I have been having these visions of a time of great crisis in Britain's future. A future in which Arthur will be needed to help solve the crisis. Since I can not grant him immortality, I had thought that you might allow Arthur to sleep in the Hollow Hill until the time of crisis arises."

"That only explains what you want to do," Oberon answered.

"The future is always in motion and my visions are never one hundred percent accurate," Merlin sighed, "I will admit, that I could be one hundred percent wrong and that nothing will happen, but what I've seen will be big and I have yet to be wrong on these things."

"And if this crisis is real?" Titania asked.

"I fear that if this crisis does come, that it will threaten more then merely Britain," Merlin answered, "But yet Arthur will be needed to fight it."

**Present**

"It was Titania that persuaded Oberon to allow me to put Arthur in his enchanted sleep," Merlin answered, "And she is among the most reasonable fey one could ever meet."

Arthur and Rachel then slowly pulled their boat onto the shore and began to follow Merlin toward the palace.

"She will help?" Rachel asked.

"Most likely, although we will have to do most of the work," Merlin answered as they continued walking.

As they neared the palace, the group glanced up at the one or two gargoyles presently 'guarding' the battlements and continued on.

"I do not think I will be required to explain Merlin's condition to Queen Titania," Una spoke, "I will update the Avalon clan of what has happened."

"We'll try to update you on how our meeting goes," Arthur replied.  
"Thank you," Una replied with a nod.

Una then moved to talk with the Avalon gargoyles while Arthur, Rachel, and Merlin slowly walked into the main part of the palace. They found Titania seated alone in the throne room with the only the Weird Sisters flanking her.

"I have been told something rather shocking, Merlin," Titania commented as Arthur and his group approached with Merlin leading, "You have lost your powers?"

"Yes, Queen Titania," Merlin answered weakly.

"I may have my suspicions, but could you tell me how is this possible?" Titania asked.

"An Illuminati member used Stonehenge as a means to strip me of my powers," Merlin explained, ignoring the gasps of surprise that were given from Titania and the Weird Sisters.

"The Illuminati?" Titania asked.

"Yes," Arthur answered for Merlin, "They appear to believe that I and Britain's Greatest Hour of Need are a threat to them, and by that, I mean my fighting to solve whatever problem that will arise at that time."

"The must be continuing the Mage's war against the Fey," the Weird Sisters commented in unison, "For them to strike at a powerful fey halfling."

"No, they believe that if Arthur solves the crisis, then their organization will collapse or something like that," Merlin answered, "I believe it does have something to do with the Mage's prophecies though."

"But according to your research and most others, Arthur is destined to save Britain," Titania pointed out, "What would they have to gain by preventing what can not be prevented?"

"Prophecy and destiny are what we make of them and are the result of the choices we make," Merlin answered, "That's why there have been a great many 'prophets' throughout history, and few have ever been right."

"So they are trying to insure the Mage's prophecies," Titania commented, "But why would they attack you and not Arthur?"

"They probably feel that I am the more dangerous then Arthur is because of my powers," Merlin replied, "And that is not to say that they haven't attacked Arthur."

Titania sat thinking about that for a few moments.

"And they robbed you of your powers," Titania spoke after a few moments, "Using Stonehenge. Do you have the wording to the spell that was used?"

"Unfortunately no," Merlin sighed, "We are mostly trying to find out if we can discover a cure to what has been done."

"I can tell you that there is a cure to the Stonehenge curse, but without the exact wording it can not be produced," Titania explained.

"There is?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Titania nodded, "Most of the Seelie fey that the Unseelies tortured with that device did regain their powers."

"Then wouldn't you know the spell to cure Merlin?" Arthur asked, sounding hopeful.

"I know the cure to the Unseelie spell for a full blooded fey," Titania answered, "But Merlin is a fey halfling, and the Illuminati are human, the cure for the fey spell would not work."

"Not all of the Illuminati are human," Rachel spoke, "The were that bit me was an Illuminati agent."

"Still under human control, though," Titania commented, "I doubt that they would allow supernaturals, such as werewolves, which are part human part wolf, and vampires which are part human part demon to be in positions of power. But your are right Ms. Winters. The Illuminati do employ nonhumans in some capacity. That will make your task will be arduous, especially since you still need to uncover the wording the spell that was cast on Merlin and without a magic user with you, unless you also know sorcery, Ms. Winters."

"Una has agreed to help us with much of the magical tasks, although she also believes that I can perform some human spells if we find a conduit that I can use," Merlin answered.

"Good that you have help," Titania commented, "The power draining powers of Stonehenge are very difficult to reverse."

"Thank you," Merlin bowed, "Although I would think that some research into Stonehenge and its Unseelie connections might useful. Shouldn't a human sorcerer be unable to use the device then?"

"Mortals have used the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate in the past and they are fey devices," Titania pointed out, "Fey magic and human magic are not entirely incompatible, but we will provide any information you feel you might need before your quest begins."

"Thank you," Merlin bowed with respect.

**The Battlements**

"Surely this is some sort of joke," Gabriel commented as Una finished explaining to the group of Avalon gargoyles that had gathered around, "Merlin helped us out duel the Unseelies. How could anyone take away his powers?"

"From what it seems, Stonehenge has the capacity to strip even the strongest fey of its powers," Una answered, "And the Illuminati Councilmember who used it employed trickery in order to catch Merlin with his guard down."

"They're cowards," Ophelia commented.

"Arthur and Macbeth feel much the same way," Una sighed, "Probably the result of their experience as kings. They're probably right, but the world has changed much since the fifth and sixth centuries for Arthur and eleventh century for Macbeth."

"So you are all working to help Merlin cure himself?" Gabriel asked.

"Arthur, Rachel, and I are," Una answered, "The rest are looking after London."

"Who is Rachel again?" Galahad asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Una sighed, remembering that Rachel had not been present for the Unseelie conflict, "Rachel Winters is a woman from York who has recently joined Arthur and us."

"She just joined you?" Leslie asked.

"No, actually," Una sighed, "She had been attacked by a werewolf and Arthur and Merlin have been working to help her adjust. Over this period of time, she has decided to join us."

"She was attacked and survived?" Leslie asked sounding nervous.

Una nodded.

"That means she's…" Leslie began to ask.

Una nodded again, "She is not like any of the Hollywood monsters that are portrayed in movies, and in fact, neither was the were that bit her. He was apparently only following orders to cause mayhem."

"I hope she has plenty of patience if she meets Leslie," Gabriel commented, "She watched some movie during the Unseelie War with some of Goliath's clan. Something about a werewolf terrorizing London."

"She has no need to fear," Una answered, "Rachel will not take her wolf form unless she has to, which I doubt will happen here."

"It's good to know that our brothers and sisters have done well in London with your clan," Ophelia commented, hoping to turn the discussion away from its present topic.

"Yes," Una nodded, "Lancelot and Gawain have been most helpful and quite eager to join Griff as one of Arthur's new knights. Guinevere has been quite willing to help with patrols, but I don't think she has been quite as enthusiastic about being a knight then Gawain or Lancelot."

"Guinevere actually isn't very found of her name," Gabriel spoke, "Largely since she read the stories of King Arthur. I think the whole story of Guinevere marrying Arthur and then running off with Sir Lancelot in the stories agitated her to some degree."

"That is understandable," Una answered.

"And you think there is a cure for what these Illuminati have done?" Gabriel asked, getting back to the earlier discussion of Merlin.

"We believe so," Una answered, "Although it will be up to the information that we can get from Titania that will determine whether or not we can find a cure."

**Elsewhere**

Rachel stared quietly out over the landscape that she could see from one of the palace's windows. Merlin had already gone to the library, with Arthur following close behind to see what he could find out, but Rachel didn't feel like looking through old books at the moment. She suddenly picked up the scent of someone behind her and sighed.

"Am I in your spot?" Rachel asked as she straightened herself out and turned around to find one of the Weird Sisters standing behind her.

"No, but I sense curiosity on your part," Luna answered, "and thought it might be best to help with that."

"I didn't think you or your sisters would willingly help anyone," Rachel retorted, "From the way you greeted Merlin."

"Our duties revolve around guarding this island and insuring the preservation of what is properly 'fated'," Luna answered, "Of which Arthur's saving Britain is a part of."

"My curiosity has nothing to do with that," Rachel answered, "It has more to deal with my 'condition' which I don't think you would want to answer."

"I have my reasons for what I do," Luna answered, "And my sisters and I are not all of what we seem. Now do you have your questions you want answered or not?"

Rachel sighed. If the fey was going to answer her questions, she might as well ask. She still had no idea why Luna was doing this, especially without the other Weird Sisters present, but she wasn't about to challenge the fey over the issue.

"To clarify things, you are the mother of Lycan, the one who created the werewolf 'curse'?" Rachel asked to begin things.

Luna nodded.

"Did you help him in anyway?" Rachel asked, "I mean, I have to change when the moon is full and your name has been connected to werewolves in most literature and the word moon has been connected with words that are strikingly similar to your name, lunar, lunacy, lunatic, etcetera."

"Didn't Merlin already explain this?" Luna asked.

"Merlin explained what he knew," Rachel replied, "Which isn't everything."

"Lycan actually drained some of my powers when he created the werewolf 'curse' as well as most of his own," Luna answered, "I did nothing to help create it, although he used some of my powers to create it."

"He took some of your powers?" Rachel asked.

Luna nodded, "Yes, he needed some of my powers to give werewolves their primary transformation trigger. You are correct in asserting that I have a personal connection with the moon, but my connection has nothing to do with the connection that werewolves in mortal literature have. Lycan felt that the use of the moon to insure that werewolves took their wolven forms at least during one period of the month would help them master their own voluntary transformations."

"So what is your connection to the moon?" Rachel asked.

"Time," Luna answered, "The moon travels around the Earth in a set pattern, and has been used to establish various calendars throughout history, although today most use solar calendars."

"So what happened to Lycan?" Rachel asked.

"Creating werewolves drained Lycan of most of his powers," Luna answered, "so much so, in fact, that he lost his ability to do magic. He was still 'immortal' in a sense, but he didn't have enough to do magic. He took up residence in Greece and has remained there ever since."

"Hm," Rachel sighed as she listened to Luna's answers.

"Are you still looking for a cure for your lycanthropy?" Luna asked in a firm voice.

Rachel looked back with a look of surprise on her face.

"I was told there wasn't a way to reverse what had been done to me," Rachel spoke.

"There isn't," Luna answered, "But there have many weres who spent their lives trying to find one, and in the end, it cost them their lives."

"If you are wondering if I've adjusted," Rachel sighed, "The answer is yes. I've managed to get used of the fact that I'm rather hairy for three nights a month."

"Good," Luna answered, "For now I must give you the warning that is my primary reason for this visit."

Rachel remained silent knowing that she would learn the real reason why the female fey was talking to her.

"Arthur and Merlin were correct in saying that prophecy and fate are what we make of them," Luna answered, "The fact that prophecies come true are only the fact of actions influencing them to come true."

"I understand that," Rachel answered, "I've already promised Arthur that I'd help him make sure he saves Britain."

"It is more then just insuring the Prophecy of Britain's Greatest Hour of Need," Luna answered, "It has to do with helping Merlin regain his powers."

"Isn't that part of what would be necessary to insure that the prophecy goes through?" Rachel asked.

"It is part of the larger scheme, but in theory, it is not specifically required," Luna answered, "But Arthur is much like the gargoyles of this world. He will not abandon the things he protects or those who help him, something which differentiates himself from Macbeth."

"They're both good men," Rachel commented.

"But Macbeth would sacrifice Merlin if the path to helping Merlin would mean greater effort for only a minimally larger chance of succeeding in the long term," Luan answered, "The upcoming struggles you will face will be great and things will have to be done that neither Merlin or Arthur will be willing to perform. You must be willing to go that extra step when the time comes, and you will know it when it comes."

"When what comes?" Rachel asked, sounding confused.

"You will know," Luna answered, fading away, "It will be something that you know Arthur can not do."

**Library**

"Have you found anything, Merlin?" Arthur asked.

Merlin only sighed.

"They have plenty of information about its use from the first Unseelie War," Merlin answered, "And it confirms what Titania has told us, that there is a cure for the Unseelie spell. But again, Three is human and the spell he used had to be human. And, until I regain my powers, I can't perform fey magic, so the Seelie cure is worthless to me."

"But wouldn't it still prove that there is a cure?" Arthur asked.

"Only in theory," Merlin explained, "Just as it is theoretically possible for Elisa and the other females in Goliath's clan to become human again. But, since human magic is not as clear cut or as easy to perform as fey magic, the cure could either be very difficult or nonexistent."

"There has to be one and we will find it," Arthur swore, "There has been so much that you have done to help me. I won't abandon you now."

"I thank you, Arthur," Merlin smiled, "But unless you've secretly known more magic then I do, there isn't all that much anyone can do at the moment. Right now, our mission will be to find a conduit that I can use. I don't think there is much more that we can use Avalon's library for."

"Shall I gather the others then?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded, "I'll meet you back at the boat."

It took roughly half an hour to get everyone ready and back to the boat. While collecting Rachel and Una was easy, but Princess Catherine, who had missed Arthur and Merlin's initial audience wished to seek into the condition of the Avalon gargoyles that had gone to London and inquire as to what had brought them to Avalon.

"I pray you are able to find a cure for what has happened to ye, Merlin," Catherine spoke calmly after hearing the story.

"We should be able to," Merlin answered, "No worries."

"So what is our mission next?" Una asked as their boat entered the fog once again, this time as they left Avalon.

"In order to do what we need to insure he salvation of Britain we need to find the original wording to Three's spell and to find something I can use as a conduit to perform human magic," Merlin answered, "But it should be remember that Avalon will not send us where we want to go or where we think we need to be, it will be where we truly need to be."

"Well it send us to places we want to go?" Rachel asked.

"When we need to be there," Merlin answered, "Thankfully our mission is of such importance that the places we need to be are likely to be the places we want to be."

It was then that the mists parted again and they found themselves approaching a series of cliffs.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked, as the currents began to push them dangerously close to the cliffs.

"We could be anywhere," Merlin commented as Arthur and Rachel managed to steady the boat so that it came softly aground in a rather shallow point in the water, "There are lots of places that have cliffs overlooking the sea. Although, considering that we are on the east side of this coast, I have no specific location that I can think of at the moment."

"Maybe we're in Scotland," Rachel commented, "I've heard stories of Scotland having cliffs overlooking the sea."

The group began to climb up a very narrow path towards the top of the cliff. It was very difficult as Arthur, Una, and Rachel all struggled to carry the boat to the top of the cliff. Once they got to the top, Merlin quickly moved over to a small pile of stones and began doing something with them.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"You know how I kept large numbers of mystical artifacts when you were king right?" Merlin asked back.

"Yes," Arthur responded while glancing back at Rachel, who only shrugged.

"Well, after I took you to Avalon, I hid and scattered them," Merlin explained, "With no Knights of the Round Table or standing Roman Army, they would have been far too vulnerable to those who might use these tools for evil."

"And this might be a site where you hid one of the treasures?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, and I'm now fairly sure where we are specifically," Merlin answered, "This has to be the island of South Uist off of Scotland. It's the only place in Scotland where I hid one of the treasures."

"What are these treasures?" Una asked.

"Most were enchanted implements that if used correctly, one get specific results out of them," Merlin answered, "But there were some charms and trinkets that could be used as a conduit for magic, and if I'm to do mortal magic, I'm going to need to find these trinkets."

Merlin finished moving the stones and they began to glow with a bright white light and a stone stairway appeared out of the ground in front of them.

"Amazing," Rachel breathed.

"Wait here, I shouldn't be long," Merlin spoke and descended down the staircase.

After a few moments Merlin returned to find that dawn had come and Una had taken her place for the day, meaning they wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile.

"I'm sorry that took so long," Merlin spoke as he returned.

"We could all use the time to rest," Rachel commented, "Especially since most of our traveling will be at night so that Una can come with us."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Arthur asked sounding hopeful.

Merlin nodded and held up a small ring which housed a rather dark colored stone on it.

"This is the Ring of Fieldar," Merlin explained, "the principle magical conduit of my teacher, Garrek the Wise."

"Can you use it as a conduit?" Rachel asked, "I mean, did its magical energies wear our or anything?"

"It is impossible for magical items to lose their magic," Merlin responded, "this will help me and will help us solve our main problems concerning Three and the Illuminati."

"That is good," Arthur nodded.

"You don't suppose we've been sent here for any other reason, do you?" Rachel asked, "Aside from maybe some rest?"

"I do not know," Merlin answered, "I would doubt it though. I don't hear anyone nearby at the moment, and I don't see anyone besides us, either."

Merlin then went back to the stones he had been moving around earlier. He quickly began rearranging them again.

"But, we don't know if anyone will show up or not, so it'd be best to insure these chambers are safely hidden," Merlin spoke, "as we won't be able to return for the rest of the treasures there until after our current mess has been solved."

The secret passageway that Merlin opened then closed.

"Hopefully, this doesn't take too long," Merlin sighed.

**To Be Continued…**


	18. Why We're Needed

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "The Cure".

Why We're Needed

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**South Uist, off the coast of Scotland**

Rachel walked quietly along coastline, not far away from where Merlin and the others were guarding Una's stone form. She was certain that helping Merlin get his powers back was necessary, but she wasn't entirely sure that was the only reason why they were on the small island. All of the London Clan had told her bits and pieces of what they knew of Goliath and Elisa's world tour. Merlin had told her of his first to and from Avalon when he took Arthur there to sleep, and Arthur told her about his return to London after waking up on Avalon. All of them seemed to be roundabout journeys that rarely took them to any place they wanted to go to without a good, but different reason.

"Maybe I'm imagining things," Rachel commented to herself, "Merlin and Arthur know more about this sort of stuff."

She then shook her head and sighed, "I mean, they've been dealing with this all their lives. I've only been a werewolf for a few months and this is all still very new to me. But still, I can't help but wonder if we are here for some reason other then to find Merlin's lost treasures."

Unsure as to how to deal with her own thoughts she kept walking.

Meanwhile, back at the original camp, Arthur had gathered some supplies from the skiff and was attempting to cook something to eat, while Merlin worked to try and work some magic through the ring he had recovered. After awhile, Merlin looked up and sighed heavily.

"Say, where is Rachel?" Merlin asked, noticing that the brown haired woman was not in sight.

"She is still concerned that there might be some reason other then recovering something that you use as a conduit, and is taking a walk," Arthur answered, "Seeing as no one seems to be around, and we can't go anywhere until nightfall when Una wakes up, I didn't see any problem in giving her consent to go."

"I think perhaps we told her a bit too much of our first journeys after we left Avalon," Merlin sighed, "Avalon's magic is a rather tricky thing. Our first trips took us to places we didn't expect and had us deal with some 'new' things because we did not necessarily need to be in London or in Britain at the time."

"One could say the same thing of today," Arthur commented, "Our goal is to save Britain, but with all the advances made over the centuries, the act of saving England may not even happen in the British Isles."

"It is the change in the technologies of communication and transportation," Merlin commented, "News travels a lot faster and modern weapons can strike targets that are quite far away from where they are based. We could very well end up saving England in some far off country."

"So how goes your practicing?" Arthur asked, changing the subject.

"Fairly well," Merlin commented, "I've mostly been trying to figure out what spells the ring as the power to cast and which ones it doesn't."

"Forgive me if I've forgotten some of what you've told me how your magic works, but wouldn't just firing off spells to see if they would work be dangerous?" Arthur asked.

"Normally yes," Merlin nodded, "But one of the spells that I'm certain the ring can cast is a small diagnostic type spell. It analyzes the strength the spell 'cast' and makes the ring glow if it has the power to perform that spell, but it will not if it doesn't have the power to perform that spell it will not glow. Which means, even if I cast a spell that could be dangerous, with the 'diagnostic spell' in place, the second spell will not even take effect."

"And you've been able to do all of this?" Arthur asked.

"Some of it," Merlin sighed, "I haven't been able to generate much in the way of indicating whether or not the spell works. It may be because I've always used my fey halfling abilities as a conduit, I may need some time and practice in using an object as a conduit."

"A good thing that we brought Una then," Arthur commented, "She might be able to help you with that."

Merlin chuckled softly to himself.

"It will be rather strange for me," Merlin commented, "Becoming the student after being the teacher for so many years."

Meanwhile Rachel's walk had now taken her away from where Merlin and Arthur were camped. The coastline was very rocky and she had made various twists and turns. As she approached a sharp turn she suddenly heard a series of grunts and the sound of something digging into the rock of cliff face.

"Come on!" a growling voice spoke loudly, "That old wizard hid things throughout the British Isles. The magic from this island is the strongest!"

Rachel clung to the rock face to insure that she wouldn't be seen. She inched her way toward the edge and peeked around it to see something that startled her slightly. Four small yellowish creatures with sharp looking teeth were digging into the rock of the cliffs with their claws while a larger goblin-like creature hovered slightly behind them.

"We're digging as fast as we can!" one of the smaller goblin creatures answered in a hissing voice.

"Dig faster," the larger goblin creature ordered, "His cache is bound to be along these cliffs. It's easier to hide and bury things in them."

Rachel ducked back against the cliff wall to keep out of sight and hoped they didn't have a good sense of smell as she soon realized that the wind was blowing her scent in their direction.

"They're after Merlin's cache," Rachel thought to herself, "That's why we're here. To stop them from causing trouble."

Rachel quietly began to slip away back toward Merlin and Arthur's camp. She had to let them know what was going on. Meanwhile the four goblin-like creatures continued to dig at the ground furiously. The lead goblin creature continued to watch when a purple haired woman came around from a different corner to inspect their progress.

"Have you found anything yet?" the woman asked the lead goblin in a rather demanding voice.

"No, lady Banshee, but we can feel Merlin's magic coming from this general area," the largest goblin answered, "He has to have a cache somewhere on this island."

"And you arbitrarily started digging here?" Banshee asked.

"The cliff sides are the most likely location," the largest goblin answered, "He could have easily buried something under or behind a rock."

"We've been here for three days," Banshee said firmly, and sounding impatient as well, "And you've only dug in one area. Why is it that in three days you've not only dug in one area but you haven't found anything?"

"I do not see you contributing to our search," the largest goblin answered.

"Titania has stripped me of my powers," Banshee answered, "The only thing that I can not do is age! I need the objects that Merlin has stored in his various caches to gain a chance of regaining my powers or at least gaining new ones."

"We are doing the best we can Lady Banshee," the largest goblin answered, "And we have sworn. We will help you regain your lost powers if you allow us some trouble to cause in Britain."

"I would suggest that you begin searching a wider area then just this one point," Banshee instructed, "These cliffs may be the most likely area that Merlin may have hid his various magical artifacts, but it is not entirely likely he hid them in this one cliff."

"Of course," the largest goblin answered, "We'll get started right away."

**Arthur and Merlin's Camp**

Rachel came running back to where Arthur and Merlin were seated in a rather quick hurry. Merlin was still practicing at using a conduit other then his own powers and Arthur had finished cooking some breakfast and was preparing to serve himself.

"You're just in time for some breakfast," Arthur commented, "I hope you don't mind porridge."

"We have bigger problems then porridge," Rachel answered.

"What?" Merlin asked.

"We're not alone here," Rachel answered, "There are these creatures looking for one of your stashes, Merlin."

"Don't you think you might be crying 'wolf' on this one," Merlin commented, "Una didn't sense anything through her magic when we arrived and you didn't smell anything."

"Okay I resent the terminology of me crying 'wolf'," Rachel answered, "And two, Una isn't as powerful as you were, so her range in using magic to sense the presence of others may be limited, and three, the wind has been blowing away from us toward where the creatures that I saw are."

"You're still concerned about why we were directly sent to one of the places where Merlin hid some of his treasures?" Arthur asked, "I told you, we need to be here so Merlin could be able to perform some magic again, mortal magic, but magic nonetheless."

"He's using it as a conduit," Rachel answered, "Couldn't he have found something similar anywhere?"

"In theory yes, but it would be much more difficult," Merlin answered, "This makes things much easier for accomplishing our task in find a cure for what the Illuminati did to me, and then solve Britain's Greatest Hour of Need."

"But you've all said that Avalon is not easy to predict in terms of where it will send us," Rachel pointed out, "So why would it send us someplace that would make what we want to do easier? We may have to stop the Illuminati and save Britain, but those are also things that we want to do. So this whole thing with this island and your hidden cache, Merlin, has not sat right with me."

"You have valid points, but remember that Avalon's magic has never been predictable," Merlin answered, "It's partially why the only way to get there is through a spell. Some destinations may be easier then others."

"Why don't you believe me?" Rachel groaned, sounding frustrated with both of them.

"Because you've been understandably made nervous by the whole deal," Merlin answered, "If I were making my first Avalon journey with two people who have made the journey before, I would feel just as you do now."

"I'm telling you I know I saw five creatures looking for your cache," Rachel answered, "If you don't believe me, I'll show you!"

Rachel then grabbed both Arthur and Merlin and began to physically drag both of them back toward where she had seen the goblin-like creatures. Both attempted to protest, but were unsuccessful.

**Elsewhere, Unknown Location**

Meanwhile, while Arthur and his group struggled with why or why not they were off the coast of Scotland, the foe that their thoughts were primarily on was focused on was busy with its own agenda.

"What do you mean they aren't there?" Three growled into a phone sounding very frustrated.

"That is exactly what I said," a voice answered from the other line, "Arthur, Merlin, the werewolf, and probably at least one of the gargoyles has left London."

"Where did they go?" Three asked, "It is imperative that you tell me."

"We do not know, sir," the agent answered, "Our spy teams only noticed that he never made an appearance in any of the windows inside the mansion and he never visibly came in or out. He seems to have just disappeared."

"We wouldn't have that sort of luck," Three answered, "He's out there somewhere, and I have now doubt he is trying to 'cure' his mentor."

"Cure, sir? I thought what was done was permanent," the agent commented.

"If nothing is done about it, yes," Three explained, "But like many things involving magic, there is always some specific spell or method that can undo what has been done. That is why you must find him and destroy him, if Merlin regains his powers, then the Mage's prophecies will be in jeopardy."

"I will begin a thorough search of all Britain," the agent answered, "He probably thinks the answers to his problem are on the island."

"Good," Three answered, "Let me know when you've found him."

**South Uist**

"They were right around this turn here," Rachel said as she drug Arthur and Merlin to the spot where she seen the goblin-like creatures digging at the rock.

As she rounded the corner, she found that the goblins had since left.

"Right here?" Merlin asked, "I think you've been unnerved."

"They were right here!" Rachel answered pointing.

Arthur looked around and saw to no goblins there, but after a moment he saw something that proved Rachel's story.

"You're imagining things," Merlin said back to Rachel.

"Wait a minute, old friend," Arthur replied, "I think we might owe Rachel an apology."

"What?" Merlin asked turning to face Arthur.

"There are tracks in the sand and pebbles here," Arthur answered, "Something that had a lot of weight has to have been here before, and was taking very repeated steps over the same section of the beach."

"They were pawing at the cliff face here," Rachel answered, "They think Merlin's buried all his artifacts along the coastline."

Merlin looked at the footprints that Arthur was pointing to and then at the side of the cliff. Sure enough, he saw claw marks on it. Something had been here.

"First, I'm going to apologize," Merlin sighed, "I'm sorry Rachel. I must be going senile without my magic with me."

"I'm here to help," Rachel answered.

"And helped us you have," Merlin replied, "The talismans and artifacts I have collected over the years, and hidden away all have great power. Some more so then others, and some the power is in the knowledge and wisdom they hold. All of them, however, can be either misused. If someone out of good or evil intent finds and uses them, without knowing how to work them properly, they could do more harm then good, or even more harm then they intend. And if they know how to use them, it will only depend on whether they are good or evil. If good, I see no fault in someone finding them. I haven't used any of them in centuries. But if evil, I can not allow them to find them, as the chaos and danger they could unleash on the world can not be allowed to happen."

"So I guess we're here to stop these goblins, then," Arthur commented.

"Or at least find out why they're here," Merlin answered, "If they're digging along the coast, we have plenty of time to stop them from finding my cache."

"Huh?" Rachel asked.

"My lone cache on this island is where it is for a reason," Merlin answered, "And that is erosion. If I buried my artifacts along the coast, the ocean water would have worn away the rock that buried it by now and would have exposed any magical shields I placed on it. Which means this cliff is not a suitable spot to bury anything if you want to preserve it and/or keep it hidden."

"Where do you suppose they've gone now?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know," Rachel answered, "They were all right here when I was by myself. They must have left after I did. But, unless they went into the ocean, I might be able to track them if you can give me a minute."

"Save that until nightfall, or if we're attacked," Merlin ordered, "If you say they're goblins, they can probably sense my magic. Now, while goblins aren't necessarily the smartest of creatures, they are not entirely stupid either. They will eventually figure out that my cache is not along the coastline, and if we spend our time tracking them now, without Una to glide ahead of our position in case anything happens at my cache while we're not there, we will face great danger when they present my cache to whomever is controlling them."

**Elsewhere on the island**

Banshee sat shivering inside a narrow canyon on the opposite side of the island. The end of the Unseelie Court's attempt to take the throne of Avalon had been hard on her, but it had not quelled her own want for respect. She resented Titania with a passion for removing her powers and leaving her as a woman. A woman who couldn't age, but could be killed by anything else.

Being dumped by the Weird Sisters into the middle of Ireland hadn't helped. If they were going to leave her as a woman instead of a fey, they could have at least constructed an identity for her, or give her the financial means to construct her own. This left Banshee homeless, and without her powers at the mercy of any crook that crossed her. She had found she could still put a great deal of volume into a terrified scream, and if she really practiced she could even work with different pitches, but that didn't stop a knife wielding crook, whom she could have rendered senseless with a whisper if she still had her powers. She was fortunate a policeman heard her scream and came to her rescue.

All of this was an embarrassment for her. She was used to being the one with power and the one to terrorize the weak. She was not used to being rescued, by anybody. She longed to regain her powers and from there, at least get even with the Weird Sisters, if not Titania and the rest of the Seelie followers. So when she came across a group of ex-Unseelie goblins, who seemed to be traveling back to whatever country they had hid in between the First and Second Unseelie Wars, she immediately struck up a bargain.

She had known that Merlin had hid various artifacts that he had acquired in various parts of the British Isles, with the exception of Ireland, and she felt that these objects could help her in regaining her powers. Claiming greater 'local' authority then she actually had, she got the goblins to agree to find the closest source of magic, seek it out, and present it to Banshee. In exchange, Banshee, would allow them to make a mess of London and any other British city they felt like trashing. They weren't her cities, so she didn't care.

They had found South Uist completely by accident, but had guaranteed that there was a strong signal of Merlin's magic. At least they had told her that they had. She was now stuck waiting for them to find the cache and bring her what she wanted. And, unfortunately for her, in the cold weather that was the area of the coast of Scotland, and without her powers she was freezing as she also was trying to stay out of sight, which meant she had stay along the coast of the island and in the freezing water. Only the thought of getting revenge, and the fact that it was currently low tide kept her warm.

The sound of footsteps approaching made Banshee tense, and she prepared to do a prearranged sob story of someone who was lost and had an accident. Seeing that it was her goblin 'allies' she sighed and sat quietly for a moment.

"Have you found something?" Banshee asked.

"We are not alone on this island," the largest goblin answered, "There are travelers here."

"Some transport ship to Northern Ireland, must have run aground or something," Banshee answered, "We're off the coast of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, it's known by many names and is one of the most heavily populated countries in Europe."

"It is not a mortal ship, Lady Banshee," the goblin answered, "It is an Avalon skiff."

"A skiff?" Banshee asked, "The Seelie fey would not need a skiff."

"We found human footprints and a two legged horse," the goblin answered.

"Two legged horse?" Banshee asked, sounding puzzled.

"We found what are obviously the hoof prints of a horse, but they were in a pattern that indicated bipedal locomotion," the goblin explained.

"Bipedal locomotion and hoof prints?" Banshee mumbled to herself, "That isn't a horse, that's a British gargoyle, probably based off of a unicorn."

"Aren't they extinct?" one goblin asked.

"What?" Banshee asked back.

"Unicorns, aren't they extinct?" the goblin asked again.

"Yes, they were killed off in the First Unseelie War," Banshee growled, "But this is a gargoyle. A GARGOYLE, a race that has survived both our wars and humanity's wars."

"Oh," the goblin shrugged, "well, there's one of them with the group too."

"They must be Arthur and Macbeth," Banshee commented to herself, "tough foes, but foes you can fight. The gargoyle I do not know. Arthur had a griffon-like gargoyle as his knight during the Second Unseelie War, but he does not have hooves."

"Shall we trash them all?" the largest goblin asked.

"Yes, but I want the humans brought in alive," Banshee answered, "If this is Arthur, he may in fact know where Merlin has hidden his magics. They are good friends, after all."

**Arthur's Camp**

The sun had just set and Una had been informed and left the group preparing to deal with the goblins that Rachel had seen earlier.

"So, you intend to go hunting for these creatures?" Una asked.

"Rachel and I will," Arthur answered, "It was our idea that you and Merlin would guard his cache."

"Wouldn't it be wiser for everyone to go looking?" Una asked, "from what you've told me, these creatures seem rather ferocious. Two against four is not an even match up."

They were interrupted by a brief and muffled howl as Rachel finished taking her werewolf form.

"It's not how they look that counts," Rachel answered as she stepped forward, "and I'm sorry if I've given us away already. Howling seems to be rather instinctive reaction."

"That doesn't matter," Merlin sighed, "We may need to split up because if they find my cache unguarded while we are looking, we will be looking at a bigger problem."

"If we run into any trouble that we need help with, I will let loose a howl that you will be sure to hear," Rachel added, "And likewise, if they attack you, roar or do something that will indicate that you are in trouble."

Una sighed and nodded, "I can project a 'fireworks' display, if necessary. I don't know how visible it will be from along the coast, but we can try that."

Arthur nodded, "Well, we must be off then. Rachel, you're sure you can track them?"

"So long as they didn't fly away or run into the ocean," Rachel answered, "Yes."

Rachel and Arthur then left Una and Merlin alone to guard the campsite. Una turned to see Merlin fiddling with a small ring on his finger.

"Is that to be your new conduit?" Una asked, "The ring I mean."

"Yes," Merlin answered, "It is the Ring of Fieldar, and originally belonged to my teacher. When he died, he left it to me, and since I didn't need a conduit at the time, I've kept hidden with my other treasures to insure that it never fell into the wrong hands or that it conflicted with my magic's fey source. Now, that isn't the problem and I need it as a conduit."

"It is good you kept it then," Una commented.

Merlin nodded and gave a weak smile, "I may actually need a bit more of your help then we might have originally thought."

"I will help in any way that I can," Una offered.

"Good," Merlin replied, still smiling weakly, "Because I've been so used to having my powers as a fey halfling, that I am in a great need of retraining to use a magical conduit."

"It will be of no problem, Merlin," Una answered and then looked up, "Wait, I smell something!"

Merlin turned around only to see two yellow skinned goblins leap out of nowhere and tackle him to the ground. Una rushed to get them off of him, and was caught from behind by another two goblins. She managed to throw one off of her and to the ground at her feet. Una then kicked the offending goblin, which went flying through the air and landed roughly on a large boulder nearby. Una elbowed the other one and quickly chanted something quietly and raised one hand.

The attacking goblin jumped on Una's back again causing her magically generated fireworks to go wide and actually head away from the direction that Arthur and Rachel had left in. The goblin then worked it so that he had enough leverage that Una could not break free.

"Get off of me!" Merlin screamed as he struggled against the goblins, finding that they were physically stronger then he was.

"How do we tell the lady?" one goblin asked as he held Merlin's right arm down, "Gargoyle knock out Jip."

"I don't know," the largest goblin answered, as he continued to struggle to try and keep Una from struggling, "But gargoyle is stronger then she looks."

The sound of footsteps and panting breaths made Merlin and Una's hopes arise that Arthur and Rachel had seen the signal. They were dashed when a pale, purple haired woman came running up, panting as she went and holding the skirt part of her tunic up so that she could run more effectively.

"No need to worry about finding me," Banshee answered, "I am here. You put on quite a fireworks display in capturing these two."

"It as the gargoyle that shot fireworks," the largest goblin corrected.

Banshee looked over their two prisoners and was quite surprised as to who it was.

"Why it's Merlin, himself," Banshee said with a smile and then glanced at Una, "Forgive me, but I do not know your name and either way you do not strike me as the adventuring type."

Una only gave a low growl.

"And I'm more surprised that you have not tried to cast any spells, Merlin," Banshee continued, "You must be getting soft in your advanced age."

"You don't know the half of it," Merlin answered, still struggling, "Why are you here?"

"That much should be obvious," Banshee answered, "I want your cache of mystical artifacts."

"You're fey," Una growled, "What could you want with Merlin's artifacts?"

"A powerless fey, thanks to Titania and you people," Banshee shot back, "But Merlin's artifacts hold great power and I intend to restore my powers."

"I hold no artifact powerful enough to undo the punishment Titania has placed on you," Merlin told Banshee, "And if you hadn't betrayed the Seelie Court and sided with the Unseelies you wouldn't be in your present predicament."

"You're lying," Banshee growled, "You have to have something that will help me get what I want, and you will open your cache for me."

Merlin continued to look defiant.

"Or I will have the goblins kill you," Banshee threatened.

"They'd probably kill me anyway," Merlin commented.

"We would," one of the goblins that was holding him down commented.

"Show me where your cache is!" Banshee screamed.

"No," Merlin answered.

"Show it to me now!" Banshee screamed again.

Merlin shook his head and Banshee was about to scream at him again when she was grabbed from behind by something with large claw tipped and furry hands. Banshee turned her head to look into Rachel's golden yellow eyes as she snarled at the powerless fey.

"How about you let Merlin go," Rachel growled.

Arthur soon appeared from behind her, Excalibur drawn.

"I'm sorry it took us so long, but it looks like their trail lead us right to them," Arthur commented.

"Kill them!" Banshee screamed as she struggled within Rachel's grasp.

The two goblins holding Merlin down raised an arm to slash at the wizard, but Arthur charged at them and kicked one off of Merlin, and sliced off the raised arm of the other. Merlin then landed a punch on the goblin and knocked him off.

"Thanks," Merlin answered.

Banshee struggled furiously to try and get free of Rachel's grasp. She also quickly found that Rachel had no intention of clawing or biting her, which meant that the werewolf would be pulling punches. Banshee smiled and decided to use something she had been practicing, and unleashed a loud and high pitched scream into the night air.

Rachel roared in pain as the high pitched scream hit her sensitive wolf ears and let go of Banshee to cover her ears with her hands. Banshee smiled and then kicked Rachel in her midsection and began to run away when she found Una blocking her path.

"That scream was not painless for me either," Una growled and pulled some small powder from a pouch on her belt and tossed into Banshee's face.

"You…" Banshee began to curse before falling to the ground unconscious.

"A basic sleeping powder," Una explained before anyone could ask, "She'll be out for awhile."

"What do we do with her?" Rachel asked, rubbing her ears, "and with the goblins she hired?"

"My only guess would be to send them all to Avalon," Merlin sighed, "The goblins for punishment in their part of the Second Unseelie War and I don't know if Titania would actually punish Banshee for simply wanting to restore her powers, but she might at least help us make sure that Banshee does not return here."

"Why not just take all of your artifacts out of there and take it with us," Rachel suggested, "Then we can leave that screamer here."

"I don't know," Merlin commented, "I don't know if the skiff can stay afloat with all of that stuff in it as well as with us in it."

"We can try," Arthur shrugged, "The crafts are rather sturdy. It might hold the weight."

"And sending these goblins off for punishment?" Rachel asked.

"That is the easy part as all we need to do is summon the Weird Sisters or Titania herself," Merlin answered.

**Dawn**

Banshee awoke cold and alone and found that even Merlin and his group had left and found a small note under one hand. It read…

"_While I can not expect you to follow this, I advise you to move on with your life, as since you can not age, you should have a lot of living to do. My cache has been emptied by myself and I have taken it with me. If you wish to do what can not be done, it will not be at my expense. Find someone else's magic to steal."_

Banshee frantically ran around the island of South Uist looking for any sign of Merlin his companions, either to fight or at least bargain for a way off of the island, as she had had the goblins help her get there, and with them gone, she was now stranded. Angry and still wanting revenge, and now, utterly defeated, Banshee only screamed.

**The End…**


	19. Ice

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Why We're Needed".

Ice

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Avalon Mists**

Merlin sat quietly staring out into the mists that their small boat was floating through. His mind wondering about why Banshee had been so determined to get revenge. She had looked positively beaten when Titania had sentenced her to live as a 'mortal'. His only real guess that felt would stick was pride. Banshee had been attached to her powers, and now felt inferior without them. From what he knew though, he was glad she no longer had her fey powers and hoped she'd gain some form of common sense.

Although her recent actions had left him with a rather large dilemma. To prevent Banshee from trying to steal his artifacts again, Merlin had taken all of them with him when he and the rest of the travelers left the island of South Uist. Now he had to do something with the artifacts. The present quest to gain what he needed to restore his own stolen powers wouldn't allow him to simply take them with him. The Illuminati or some other villain they might stumble across might steal them and the threat of the objects being used by evil was too great a risk to take.

"Can't we just take them back to London?" Rachel asked, "Let Macbeth and the rest of the clan guard them?"

"We may have been wrong about why were on South Uist, but most times, Avalon's Mists dissipate once the travelers return to their home 'port', which for us would be London," Merlin commented.

"I also wouldn't think that they'd be truly safe in London anyway," Arthur commented from where he was steering the boat.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, "They can't kill Macbeth and Griff and the others have proven they can handle what they throw at us."

"Considering our present friction with the Illuminati society, London wouldn't be safe," Merlin commented, "The clan may have defeated the Illuminati's recent efforts, but the Illuminati have only used a small fraction of the resources available to them and have not used some of there more sinister tactics."

Rachel blinked for a few moments as Merlin continued.

"Many of the worst airline disasters throughout history were set by the Illuminati," Merlin sighed, "They either sabotaged the aircraft before takeoff or they had someone shoot it down."

"All those people," Rachel whispered, horrified by what she'd been told.

"And the sad thing is that they were only going after one person, but they felt it necessary to insure that an entire plane would be destroyed," Merlin sighed, "They would do anything to try and find and take the artifacts that I have in the name of their own greed."

"So where can we hide them?" Rachel asked, "Since I'm sure we can not take it with us."

"There are few places that it could be hidden," Merlin sighed, "Either in terms of places that the Illuminati 'can not' look or would not think to look."

It was just then that the mist began to clear and they were all greeted by a biting cold. Shivering they saw a small dock like facility amidst a sea of white. A small weather station stood not far behind it.

"We're off one of the ice caps," Rachel chattered through the cold, "I'd like to shift…"

"No," Arthur said back, himself shivering, "there are buildings there, which means there are people here. They may not respond well to seeing a werewolf suddenly appear on their doorstep."

"We will have a hard time explaining Una," Merlin commented, trying to fight the cold.

"We'll deal with that when we're warmer," Arthur spoke as their boat approached the coastline.

As they got closer, they saw a man run out of the weather station with what looked like several blankets over one arm. They saw him run towards the small docking facilities that were near the coast. Once they arrived, he hastily pulled them onto the dock and began giving them blankets to wrap around themselves. They didn't do much to warm them, but they did cut own on the wind.

"Come with me," the man said hurriedly, "It's not safe to stay out here for long."

He lead them into the weather station as quickly as they go, and once inside, the man quickly shut and latched the door. It was much warmer inside the weather station then it was outside, but it was still fairly cool, although the small group no longer needed the blankets to keep warm, and they began searching for a place to put them while their rescuer hung up his oversized heavy winter jacket and put his gloves on a shelf.

"I certainly hope you people aren't explorers, dressed as you are," the man commented as he turned back to face them as Rachel, Merlin, and Arthur looked at him, "What where you doing out there?"

"We aren't explorers," Arthur answered, "I'm afraid we're the victim of a dreadful accident. You see we were sailing on a ship sailing from South Africa headed for Chile, but it began taking on water and sank. We were lucky to get into the lifeboat that we had with our cargo."

"Your ship sank and you had time to rescue your cargo?" the man asked, sounding confused.

"Our cargo was actually kept in the lifeboats, at least the cargo that we saved was stored in our ship's lone lifeboat," Merlin answered, "We are the ship's crew, in its entirety."

"That was fortunate, but you had to be overloaded if you were carrying cargo in your lifeboat already," the man commented, now sounding suspicious.

"The person who hired us was very insistent, and our ship did fine for most of the voyage," Merlin answered, "and when it began taking on water, it came actually well below the normal waterline, overloading couldn't have been the cause."

The man shrugged and then sighed.

"Unfortunately, we've been largely adrift in our lifeboat for a fairly long time and do not know where we are," Rachel commented, "I don't suppose you could tell us?"

"You must have been drifting for awhile," the man commented, "This is Palmer Research Station, Antarctica."

"How long until a new boat comes to take you back?" Rachel asked.

"I only just arrived," the man replied, "I'll be here for about six months performing scientific research. I could, however, call for a rescue plane to come down for you."

"That won't be necessary," Arthur answered, "If we could get some clothing better suited to this cold, we'll be able to get our boat moving again."

"You intend to row that thing all the way back to South Africa?" the man asked.

"We've found the boat to be rather lucky," Merlin answered, "We've used it for smaller fishing trips when we haven't needed to ship anything."

"You do know this all sounds rather strange to me," the man replied.

"We get that a lot, don't worry about it," Rachel commented with a weak smile.

"Well, we do have some spare jackets that you can borrow, but it'll take me awhile to get to them," the man replied, "And even if you were to take a rescue plane, you'd be here overnight anyway."

"Thank you," Arthur said politely.

It was about half an hour later when Arthur and Rachel, wearing the borrowed heavy winter gear that the researchers had available went back out to the harbor while Merlin remained to try and explain their presence to the rest of the research team, which had been out on a local mission when they arrived.

"I can't believe this, lying about being sailors whose ship had sunk in the Atlantic," Rachel commented as she walked forward.

"I doubt the would have believed the truth," Arthur commented.

"And what about when Una wakes up?" Rachel asked, "Her roar sounds nothing like a seal, and definitely not a penguin, which are the only animals that I know of that live in Antarctica."

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it," Arthur sighed, "We were obviously sent here for a reason."

"Do you think we can hide Merlin's artifacts here?" Rachel asked.

"I'd think so," Arthur commented, "Antarctica is too cold for there to be any real political interest, so the Illuminati will not have top members here. Hiding it may end up being Una's job, as the researchers won't let us head out to hide it ourselves."

"They want to prevent something like what happened with Robert F. Scott," Rachel commented.

"Yes, I've read about his expedition," Arthur answered, "Tragic that he died, but noble in how he met his end."

Rachel and Arthur then worked to lift Merlin's bag of artifacts and make sure that Una's form would no tip over and fall into the water as the sun began to sink below the horizon. As the sun went down, Una's form slowly cracked and then shattered as Una shook herself free and woke up from her stone sleep. Una looked around for a few moments and then looked to Arthur and Rachel.

"Where are we?" Una asked.

"Antarctica," Arthur answered, "And at a research station, which is actually as a good thing, as we all would have frozen to death if we landed at a spot where there weren't people."

"I see," Una responded.

"Are you alright?" Rachel asked.

"Gargoyles do not feel the cold as easily as humans do," Una replied, "You also might be warmer in your wolf form then you are now, but I will say that I am a little bit cold right now."

"Well, it wouldn't be wise for me to shift forms with these other guys here," Rachel commented, "I'd be shot or worse."

"Can we hide Merlin's artifacts here?" Una asked.

"I would think so, but you'd have to hide it, as they would not let us move too far from their research station," Arthur replied.

"I understand," Una nodded and took the bag of Merlin's artifacts while Arthur and Rachel moved to head back to the small research station.

As they arrived they nearly ran into the man they had met when they had first arrived.

"Did you two hear that?" the man asked, "I heard something that sounded like a mixture between the cry of an eagle and a lion's roar."

"Oh, that was me," Rachel said, trying to look embarrassed and faking a blush, "I thought I saw something near our boat and tried to scare it off."

"You'd best be careful," the man replied, "Leopard seals don't scare easily."

"Well, it swam away," Rachel commented.

The man shrugged and then turned around, "We'd best go inside, it gets really cold around here at night."

They returned inside the other researchers were busy eating and Merlin was setting up something that they could sleep in for the night without stealing someone else's bed. While they removed the heavy winter clothing, Rachel and Arthur slowly approached Merlin and sat down.

"Did he see Una?" Merlin whispered.

"No," Arthur answered, "And I wouldn't suspect that he will for the rest of the night. I sent Una off to hide your artifacts, since I doubt that the Illuminati will look around here."

Merlin nodded, "This generally would seem like a good place to hide it, hopefully that is the only reason we've been sent here."

**Elsewhere**

Una glided peacefully through the cold air that blew over Antarctica and was very thankful that it wasn't too much of a strain on her. The bag of Merlin's magical trinkets was heavier then she originally thought, but Una did her best to insure that thy wouldn't be dropped. After several hours, however, her wings were beginning to tire and she needed to rest and saw a mountain in the distance that she could use to rest on. Slowly Una came in for a landing on a snowy ledge. She had little time to breathe deeply when someone grabbed her from behind.

"How did you do it, human?" a voice growled from behind her.

"Huh?" Una asked sounding surprised.

"Did you ally yourselves with the frost giants? After all we've done to protect your precious weather and research stations?" the voice asked.

"Excuse me, I am a gargoyle," Una answered.

"Sure, you are," the voice responded, "You are some human that has somehow used your technology to induce a transformation or you have allied yourself with the frost giants to transform yourself into some form of ice gargoyle."

"Ice?" Una asked.

"Why else would you have white skin?" the voce asked.

"It has always been white," Una answered, "What is going on here? What are these frost giants?"

Una then elbowed the owner of the voice behind her and flipped it over her head. To her surprise, the owner of the voice was a gargoyle, or at least what she could assume was a gargoyle.

"You're a gargoyle," Una commented.

"What's a gargoyle?" the creature asked.

Una looked the creature over. It was easily as tall as Arthur but had legs like any other gargoyle, although its three toes were webbed. It's fingers were also webbed, although the claws did come outside the skin, unlike other gargoyles. It had the head of a sea lion and had webbed wings like a flying squirrel. He also appeared to be generally confused by what Una had said.

"Have you ever seen the sun?" Una asked.

"No," the other gargoyle answered, "My pack turn to stone when the sun rises. We are air seals and we protect this continent and have also taken it upon ourselves to protect the human research stations from the frost giants."

"You are a gargoyle, a creature that turns to stone in the day and has a strong protective urge," Una answered, "and an glide as you call yourself an air seal."

"For some creature of the frost giants you know an awful lot of air seals," the other gargoyle answered, backing away.

"I don't even know who are what these 'frost giants' are," Una answered, "I'm a gargoyle, just like you are, and I am from a place called England."

"You smell of humans, you had to be one of them at one point," the other gargoyle growled, "You can not be an air seal."

Una sighed, talking to this gargoyle wouldn't be easy until she could get rid of his suspicions about her being an enemy.

"Why are you so fearful of humans?" Una asked.

"You must know," he other gargoyle answered, "They're loud, they're nosey, and they don't look like air seals."

Una sighed, "I was never human, I hatched a gargoyle many years ago. I must also tell you that humans aren't bad, and even you must know this if your clan is protecting their weather stations."

"We only do that because we know the frost giants are more evil then the humans," the other gargoyle answered.

"The humans I'm traveling with aren't evil," Una answered, "Perhaps I could arrange for you to meet them."

"No!" the other gargoyle said firmly, "We've seen what human hunters do to seals and penguins around here. We can only image what they'd do to an air seal. Almost as bad as what a frost giant would do."

"What are these frost giants you keep referring to?" Una asked.

"The frost giants are monstrous carnivores that inhabit this land," the other gargoyle answered, "Made of ice they must consume the flesh and bone of air seals to survive, although they will also eat humans and the animals of this land. Standing at twenty feet tall and each individual containing the strength of twenty air seals, they are my pack's most dangerous foe."

"Where are these frost giants now?" Una asked.

"They roam the flat lands and the areas near the human stations," the other gargoyle replied, "And lately have been marching toward my clan's home, here on this mountain. And my pack has suffered under their onslaught."

"That must be why we are here," Una thought to herself, "To help this clan save their home from these frost giants."

"Can I see what I can do to help your clan?" Una asked.

This confused the other gargoyle, and he made no effort to hide it.

"Whether or not you believe me, I can not allow a gargoyle clan to be in such danger," Una answered, "And if they destroy your clan, they might move on to the human stations. I can not allow either to happen and I want to help you."

"You wish to help?" the other gargoyle asked.

"Yes, if I could talk to you're clan's leader," Una answered.

"Come with me," the other gargoyle commanded and moved a rock to reveal a tunnel leading into the mountain.

Una did her best to follow him, but found that the tunnel was a fairly tight squeeze for her, with her wings and she had to be much more careful as her clothing could have easily been torn off by the rocks. They went down several feet before they entered into a small 'entrance' chamber with other tunnels leading deeper into the mountain. Another gargoyle was waiting as they came in.

"Brother, what are you doing here?" the gargoyle, a female questioned, "I commanded you to guard our home."

"This stranger wishes to help us," the male gargoyle answered.

The female he had addressed looked at Una with some suspicion, but did not react the way the male had when he first encountered the English gargoyle.

"My name is Una," Una introduced herself, "I am a gargoyle from an island very far from here. Your friend has told me about these frost giants that are threatening your clan."

"If it weren't for our pack's eggs, we would be at the brink of extinction," the female answered, "These frost giants are most wicked creatures."

"I wish to help," Una spoke.

"Yes, my brother has already mentioned that," the female answered, "What is in that bag? Can it help?"

"Not unless you have clan members that know and understand magic," Una answered, "I am traveling with a group of humans on a quest to stop a great evil in the world outside this continent. One of our missions is to insure that it is hidden from our foes."

"Would they look here?" the female asked.

"I do not think so," Una replied.

"If you can help us defeat these frost giants, then we will hide here in our tunnels," the female answered, "Not even the humans can detect us."

"They might in time," Una warned, "now, do these frost giants have any sort of strategy that they follow or do they just attack?"

"With their numbers, all they do is attack," the female answered, "We're trying to maintain a warning system so that when they begin approach the mountain they can be driven off. We also patrol around this area to make sure they do not attack the humans, as they, despite their technology would not last long against the frost giants."

Suddenly another female gargoyle stuck her head through the tunnel that Una had just navigated down and spoke in a very urgent voice.

"Leader, the frost giants are coming, again," the new arrival spoke, "This time straight for the mountain."

"You will help us now?" the female asked.

"Yes," Una answered setting the bag she had been carrying down.

Una slowly made her way to follow the other gargoyles out of their underground home and to face the frost giants that were challenging them. When she first saw the frost giants she was somewhat amazed that creatures of their size could remain hidden. They did in fact stand twenty feet tall, and all of them looked like professional weight lifter. They had wicked looking claws and vampire-like fangs. Other then that they looked remarkably human.

"They're monstrous," Una commented.

"They're the frost giants," the male that she had met first spoke and leaped into the air and began gliding toward the oncoming attackers.

Una watched as he slashed at the first frost giant with his talons. The frost giant's head practically exploded under the blow and it soon fell to the earth. It was what happened next which really startled Una. The creature's head reformed as if it had never been damaged. Una then landed on the chest of one frost giant, taking it to the ground and shattering the entire creature completely.

"These creatures aren't natural," Una called out to the clan's leader.

The gargoyle quickly landed next to Una as she began digging through her belt pouch.

"Now you see how dangerous they are," the female spoke in a firm voice, "they reform and attack again."

"Exactly as I said," Una said as she began working on casting a minor spell, "these frost giants as you call them are nothing more then animated beings. There is a spell in place that keeps them coming."

"We need to defeat them," the female gargoyle said urgently as she saw the frost giant that Una had landed on beginning to reform.

"No, we can't defeat them," Una answered, "We need to defeat the spell that is animating them."

"And how do we do that?" the female gargoyle questioned as she slashed at the reforming frost giant, shattering it again.

"I'm casting a spell of my own that I hope will allow me to trace the magic involved in animating these creatures," Una tried to explain, "If it works, we will be able to find the sorcerer who is casting the magic, or the magical object that was left behind to be the animator of these frost giants."

The leader of the Antarctic clan looked on with some disbelief about what the English gargoyle was saying, but these frost giants had caused her clan great pain and she was beginning to reach the point where she hoped anything could be done to stop them. She watched as Una held something that was hanging around her neck and was chanting something in a language she had never heard before. After a moment or two, she saw Una's pendant glow and then flash a bright green light.

The Antarctic leader looked around, hoping to see the frost giants gone, but was surprised to find them glowing the same color as Una's pendant. She also noticed a thin line of green light leading to some point over the horizon.

"Can they dig into your tunnels?" Una asked.

"No," the female answered, "although they've never tried."

"Okay, we must get airborne again, and leave these things here," Una spoke firmly and began to run to the mountain in the hopes of gaining enough altitude to glide again.

"Why?" the female asked as she followed.

"Because whatever is animating these creatures is located where the lines of magic converge," Una explained as they ran, "If we destroy that, these frost giants will be destroyed as well."

The female followed Una up the mountain as fast as possible until they got to a height where they could attain enough lift to glide and quickly took to the air. The frost giants were yet to cause real danger to her clan at the present moment, but the fight between them had only just begun, and the frost giants wouldn't actually begin winning fights until much later when her clan had exhausted itself fighting them.

Once in the air, Una and the female glided as swiftly as their wings could carry them for the spot where the lines of magic met, which they could see wasn't too far from the mountain once they had the height to see where they converged. They also found that the frost giants lost interest in the mountain and the rest of the Antarctic clan and began following Una and the leader.

"They're following us," the female commented.

"Once whatever is animating them is destroyed, they shouldn't be a threat," Una said firmly, "And I'm certain I can break whatever spell is animating them."

When they landed at the spot where the lines met, Una found them crossing over a small glowing stone. Lifting it up, she also saw a symbol on it, but kept it to herself. The Antarctic clan probably wouldn't know who it was or the fact that they'd already been defeated. The female was meanwhile, preparing for a new fight as the frost giants began to approach their position, and did not even turn when she heard Una chanting again. After a few moments, the frost giants stopped and then collapsed into piles of icy rubble, which surprised the female.

"It's done," Una spoke as she approached the female, "The spell that animated them is no more."

"Thank you," the female answered, finding herself at a loss for words.

"You don't need to thank me," Una answered, "I can understand how you feel. Do not worry. I doubt you will ever see any more of these frost giants."

The Antarctic clan very much enjoyed the defeat of the frost giants and all of them conveyed their thanks to Una. It still frustrated her that they all thought she was a magically altered human, but said nothing. It wasn't likely that they would encounter the London Clan anytime soon and decided to keep quiet about it. Una was also glad that they had agreed to hide Merlin's artifacts. As Una left their mountain, she hoped no one would ever find them.

**Palmer Research Station**

Mists had appeared over the coastline as dawn returned and to Arthur and Merlin, they signaled that whatever they were required to do in Antarctica had been done. This was however very confusing to the men that had rescued them upon their arrival.

"These mists will ruin your visibility," the first man spoke, "You'd be better served to wait a day and let this pass, then to go out into the ocean in this weather, strike a submerged iceberg and sink into the icy water."

"I'm afraid we must leave now while the mist is in," Merlin answered.

"Could you explain why?" the second man asked.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Merlin replied, "You will just have to trust us."

They then all got into their boat and began to pull it away from the harbor. After a moment or two, they disappeared into the mists, and despite several calls, the researchers received no answer, nor any sound of a splash to indicate that the ship had flipped over or sunk.

"I wonder why Una didn't wake us up when she returned?" Arthur asked as he looked on Una's stone form, once again resting inside their boat.

"She probably didn't want to wake up the researchers as well," Rachel sighed, "I think we freaked them out with everything."

"They would have been even more freaked out if we told them the truth," Merlin pointed.

Rachel nodded and then noticed something underneath one Una's stone hands. She found it was a piece of paper and tore it out from underneath Una's form. She then began to slowly read what had been written on the note.

"First, I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I had returned, but it was too close to dawn to risk it," Rachel read, "Our trip his has lead to some discoveries that could potentially be hopeful, or at least interesting. There is a clan of gargoyles living inside a mountain to the south of the research station where we landed, although it is many miles away. Merlin will be pleased to know that they will hide his artifacts for them, and they seem trustworthy enough to leave the artifacts with them. It is because of a threat to their clan that we were sent to Antarctica. They were being threatened by beings they called 'frost giants', which were actually magical animations of ice created by the Unseelie Court. Why the Unseelies had created such creatures is unknown, but I have defeated their spell and the clan there is no longer in danger."

"They must have used Antarctica as a staging post before attacking Avalon at the start of the last war," Merlin mused as Rachel finished reading, "These 'frost giants' were probably left behind to guard their point of departure, and when we defeated the Unseelie Court, they went wild."

"A good thing that Una defeated the spell then," Arthur commented.

"Yes, and that she was able to get this new clan to hide my artifacts," Merlin nodded, "Now, we can get on to the greater issues and missions."

**To Be Continued…**


	20. Surprise Inspection

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Ice".

Surprise Inspection

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Avalon Mists**

The mists parted to leave them in the middle of a slow flowing river that was in the middle of what appeared to be a massive rainforest. This raised some amazement and the group looked around in the hopes of finding out where they were.

"Anyone know where we are?" Rachel asked as she looked around at the thick forest and vegetation around them.

"The best answer would be a rainforest, at the moment," Merlin commented, "We'd need to do further investigation of the wildlife to determine what continent we're on."

"You don't suppose anyone lives here that we could talk to is there?" Arthur asked.

"Probably, although they're probably all part of some tribal group," Merlin commented, "And if this is Asia, it could very well depend on which part."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked sounding somewhat puzzled.

"Most of the 'tribal' groups in Asia have vanished," Merlin explained, "Most of the groups living in remote groups are either guerillas or religious sects."

"And the Americas or Africa?" Arthur asked.

"Those would be the more likely have independent tribal group that would prefer to live outside the world that western world created," Merlin answered.

"Then we should move for the shore," Arthur commented, "Perhaps we can find one of these groups and find out where we are."

"If we don't know where we are, we should wait until dark," Rachel commented, noticing that Una was still in her stone form, "especially while since Merlin is lacking the full range of his powers for the time being. I might be able to fight off a tiger or jaguar or leopard in my wolf form, but snakes, spiders, and other creepy-crawlies might get any one of us."

"I'd agree," Merlin commented, "Especially since it would leave Una unguarded and these skiffs are not known for being incredibly stable."

"You're probably right, there," Arthur commented, "I guess I'd like to know why Avalon sent us here and if it is a mission that might help us restore your powers."

"That I believe we'll discover in time," Merlin commented.

**Elsewhere**

Three sighed as he stepped out of a helicopter that had taken him to a remote facility in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Now, the Illuminati had done a lot of work to insure that no one knew the facility even existed. Unlike their facility in the Himalayas or similar facilities in other mountain ranges, which were built to look part of the mountain, even when viewed from space, the Amazon facility had required a fair amount of work from the Illuminati's sorcerers to insure that no one could spot the facility. Anyone who happened to stumble onto it, 'disappeared' mysteriously.

"Three!" an Illuminati agent said in surprise, managing a slight bow as the Council member departed his helicopter.

"I'm here to check on the progress here," Three spoke to the agent, who was likely only employed in guarding the roof of the facility, "You may escort me in."

"Yes, sir," the agent said again and moved over to a door and pressed a button to open it, "Right this way, sir."

Three nodded and then walked inside. The agent that met him on the roof then lead him through a maze of hallways and stairwells until they finally came to a central room about four floors down.

"Agent Eternal should be inside, sir," the agent spoke in a careful voice and then left to return to his post.

Three nodded and then walked in the door he had been lead to. He found a lone man seated behind a desk in a business suit.

"Well, Agent Eternal, how are our projects progressing here?" Three asked as he approached the desk and sat in a chair opposite the desk.

"Smoothly and calm," Agent Eternal answered, "The fountain is still working properly and our experiments on the natives still have not been detected."

"Good," Three answered, "We'll overlook the operation personally in a little while."

"Of course," Agent Eternal responded, "I've actually been rather interested in some of the events that have been going on. Not much in the way of news arrives here."

"As it should be," Three answered, "Mass communications allows for possible leaks of information to persons who shouldn't know that information."

"Of course," Agent Eternal nodded.

"And if the masses of the world knew what we have here, they would flood this place with millions of desperate and glory seeking people," Three continued, "and very few would be completely deterred from using it if they knew exactly how the process works."

"I understand," Agent Eternal answered, "I'm simply curious as to what is going on in the outside world, since my men and I have been permanently stationed here for a long time."

"Of course," Three nodded again, "What concerns us the most is the present unrest in the Chinese province of Tibet. Guerillas strike at both the Chinese army and at our Illuminati teams supervising them and then disappear. We also believe they're taking the Chinese equipment after destroying their units."

"Do you know who's behind it?" Agent Eternal asked, "And is there anything we can do to help?"

"You can do nothing directly," Three commented, "Unless one of the natives exhibits magical talents."

"None of our 'volunteers' could practice sorcery," Agent Eternal replied.

"Pity," Three sighed, "Anyway, we believe they are part of a plot to destroy the Illuminati in some way, although we do not know specifically who is behind the plot. We thought it might be Arthur Pendragon and his adviser, Merlin, trying to fulfill the prophecies surrounding Pendragon, and we have dealt with him, but the attacks have continued. We currently believe the gargoyle named 'Demona' is somehow involved with these guerrillas."

"I wish the Council the best of luck in capturing her, then," Agent Eternal spoke, "We'll keep your supplies coming so that you can see it through the long war that is probably on the horizon."

Three nodded as Agent Eternal then stood up.

"Now, I suppose you'd wish to see how our progress is running," Agent Eternal spoke, "I'll lead you through the facility. I think we've even made some improvements that you will like."

**River Channel**

"It won't be much longer until dusk," Rachel commented, looking up to see the eastern skies begin to darken while the western ones held all the brilliant colors of sunset.

Arthur looked up through the same gap in the trees, which existed because of the river they were on. From what he could see it was clear that the sun was setting.

"Any idea as to which way we should go once the sun sets?" Arthur asked, "It could be some distance to any settlement, tribal or otherwise. It'd be best to at least have an idea of what we're doing."

"I'd think Una would have the best chance at finding someone and getting back to us," Merlin commented, "Several of these trees go fairly high, and she could use her wings to glide over a much large area of territory much swifter then we could on foot."

Arthur was about to answer as a loud voice called out that interrupted his conversation.

"Mali!" the voice shouted through the dense rainforest and water ways.

"What is that?" Arthur asked, startled by the sudden shouting.

"Sounds like someone is looking for someone else," Rachel commented, "Someone named 'Mali', I think."

"They must be part of a local tribe or settlement, perhaps we can figure out where we are," Arthur commented.

It was then that a small canoe came out from a smaller stream that lead into the river that they were on. Two men were seated in it and were looking around nervously. One spotted Arthur and immediately called out 'the Once and Future King'.

"You!" the man called to Arthur, "Have you seen anyone on the river? A young girl?"

"No is she lost?" Arthur asked back, thinking his response was rather stupid.

"We fear she's been taken from us," the other man answered, "We hope that she has just wandered off and is lost. We'll find her that way."

"Do you need any help?" Rachel asked from her seat, "We're exploring the area, but if this girl is a relative of yours, then we'd be more then happy to help."

"Thank you," the first man spoke, "Thank you. It would kill me if I lost my little Mali."

"What is that statue you have?" the second man asked curiously, "It isn't some demon is it?"

"No, she has special abilities and will not always be a 'statue', but she is a force of good," Merlin answered, "She will probably help you search for your missing child as well."

"It will be getting dark soon," the first man commented, "You'd best follow us to our village. There we can make plans for tomorrow."

Arthur then worked to change the skiff's course so that they would follow the small canoe back to wherever the two local people had journeyed from. They were lead to small clearing and village with a series of huts built in a small circle. As they arrived, the sun had set and Una broke free of her stone shell. This action and her awakening roar startled the two men and they fell out of their canoe.

"DEMON!" the first man shouted.

"I beg your pardon?" Una asked, slightly confused as to what she heard when she first awoke.

"My friends, I assure you, you are in no danger," Arthur said quickly hoping out of the skiff, "This is Una, she is a gargoyle, not a demon."

Merlin meanwhile turned to Una who was still somewhat confused.

"As you can see, we're somewhere in the tropics, and by the look of these people, either South America or Asia, but we don't know for sure yet," Merlin answered, "One of these men has lost a daughter named 'Mali'. We have volunteered to help him look for her."

"I'm sorry if I frightened you," Una spoke to the two men, "It is natural for gargoyles to sleep in stone during the day. I mean you no harm and I will do anything I can to help you find your child."

The two men looked nervously as they didn't expect Una to speak to them in such a manner, and soon the first man's thoughts returned to his missing child.

"You'll help me find Mali?" the first man asked.

"And return her to you," Una answered, "You have my word."

"Thank you," the first man said again, although still sounding nervous, and began to lead the group into the village.

"I will hold back here by the skiff," Una volunteered, "There is no need for me to frighten the rest of the people in this village. If you can get the information required, I will then search during the night."

"We'll try," Rachel nodded and began to follow Arthur and the two men they had met into the village.

**Illuminati Base**

Three quietly followed Agent Eternal through several labs in which there were several people hocked up to various machines.

"You will actually pleased to learn that since your last visit in 1900, we've improved the methods which we use to collect the necessary ingredients," Agent Eternal commented, "Our volunteers no longer need to be killed in order to get what we need."

"Excellent," Three responded, "That means we don't have to bury any more of our volunteers."

"Yes, and we have been most grateful that the natives have not figured out that we are here," Agent Eternal replied, "We know they use the poison dart frogs to increase the deadliness of their weapons. Since my people here are generally scientists, we wouldn't last long if they decide to attack us in force."

"You have nothing to fear from men with blow guns, I assure you," Three responded, "Even if they do attack, the only entrance to this installation is through the roof. I doubt they have the ability to scale the walls."

"Yes, but manning this outpost has always been a nervous one for me, sir," Agent Eternal replied, "We can't spy on the natives all the time and for all we know, they might even know of our activities."

"They are stuck where they are," Three dismissed the comments, "The only organization they can turn to is the Brazilian government, which, like every other government on this planet is clandestinely controlled by us."

**Village**

The two men that they had met lead them slowly through the small village toward their own hut. As they went they passed a small hut in which there were several people laying in hammocks and looking very weak. This attracted Merlin's attention very quickly.

"What has happened to these people?" Merlin asked curiously.

The men they had met turned around to look at those that Merlin was currently looking at.

"They are why my friend is so worried," the second man spoke up after few moments, "for a long time, if someone strayed too far from our village without more then two escorts, he never returned. At least not alive. We would find the bodies floating about a hundred feet from where we found you and your 'gargoyle'. More recently, however, these people that have gone missing have turned up alive again, but very weak."

Merlin looked more closely at these people.

"What is it, old friend?" Arthur asked.

"These people have had their blood drained from them," Merlin answered.

"Drained?" the first man asked in shock.

"Well, not entirely," Merlin explained, "but they have to have lost a lot of blood. Why else would they be so weak?"

"How can this be?" the first man asked, "They have not been bitten or attacked by anything."

"One doesn't need to be attacked by an animal, or even 'assaulted' by another man to lose blood these days," Arthur commented, "if someone has drained enough blood out of these people to make them weak, it's probably done through modern medical techniques."

"Doctors drain people of the blood?" the second man asked.

"They take small portions, yes," Rachel answered, "but doctors are not legally allowed to take this much out of a person, and the ways they can take it is very specific. Either they take very small portions to test for diseases and things, or they take small portions in general, that are willingly given so that they can give the blood to people who've lost a lot of blood."

"So, these blood doctors can make our people well again?" the first man asked.

"Yes," Merlin explained, "It may take awhile, but these people need a transfusion. I don't know how much longer they will last laying here in their present condition. It is almost a surprise that they haven't died from exhaustion already."

"Where were these people when they went missing, or at least, where were they going?" Arthur questioned.

"These people here were going hunting when they went missing," the second man answered, "Just north of our village here."

"And where had your daughter gone before she went missing?" Arthur asked.

"She had gone…" the first man started, "… oh no… oh no… please let Mali be alright."

"She was picking flowers in the same general area that these hunters were taken from," the second man answered, his voice sounding nervous, "The people that have done this, they wouldn't kill her? Would they?"

"Given that these others haven't been killed," Arthur responded, "I wouldn't think so, although, given that these people are so weak, I doubt that whoever is doing this I really knowledgeable about how much blood can be safely removed from people. My friends and I will begin our search to find Mali. You should get some rest for the night."

"Come along," the second man said to his compatriot, "We'd best get some rest. We may have more searching to do tomorrow, and we will definitely have to make a journey into the towns."

The man slowly nodded and joined his friend in heading off. Arthur, Rachel, and Merlin then headed for the northern end of the village. Una, who had been watching their interactions in the village quickly too the long way around and meet up with them.

"So, who do you think could have done all of this?" Rachel asked, "Stopping the kidnapping and experimentation on these people is probably the reason we're here. We can't round up everyone who isn't a part of this village."

"We don't have any power in he government here," Merlin commented.

"And it'd be too wide a net," Arthur commented, "We'd catch far more innocent people then we'd catch guilty."

"So who could have done all this?" Una asked.

"The Illuminati," Arthur answered, "They're the only ones who could have done something like this. The local government would have done something to get itself caught by now."

"If it's the Illuminati, then maybe they'll also have away to restore Merlin's powers," Rachel commented.

"Perhaps, if the right person or persons is there, or we can gain access to their computer files," Merlin commented.

"Then let's get going," Arthur commented, "We have a girl to rescue."

Arthur then began walking north with the others closely following him. As they went, Arthur began to explain his plan.

"Una, this will be fairly difficult with all the trees here, but I will need you to glide ahead and see if you can find the place they're operating out of," Arthur began, "that way we're not wandering around all night looking for their headquarters."

Una nodded and moved toward one of the larger trees so she could get the height needed to start gliding. Arthur and his group advanced further into the jungle, although they remained on a path that was already there.

"We will move forward along this trail until we're far enough away from the village that they can not hear us," Arthur continued.

"I would prefer not to shift forms until we know exactly where we're going," Rachel commented, "They might have other hunters out in this area at the moment."

"Understandable," Arthur answered, "but if it is the Illuminati we will need your wolf form when the fighting starts."

Rachel nodded. Una, meanwhile, struggled to get above the branches where the wind would be stronger, but after a few minutes of careful maneuvering, she got above the treetops and began her search for wherever the Illuminati were operating. As she looked down at the ground below her, it all looked very dark behind all the tree leaves. However, after a few moments she found something that was rather surprising as far as she could tell. At first look, it looked just like the rest of the rainforest, but what little of the ground was visible through the branches looked just as bright as the top most layer of tree branches.

"Odd," Una commented and moved closer, looking to see if there was anyway for direct sunlight to enter the forest floor.

As Una came lower in altitude, she suddenly passed through some shimmer of light, and as she did so, she came across something that was very different from what she saw from higher up. It was a large multistory metal building with no ground level entrances. On top of the building was a helicopter and a lone guard walking back and forth.

Una quickly dove down and grabbed the guard by the collar and carried him into the air. He screamed with shock and surprise as he was carried off, but fortunately for Una, he had dropped his intercom when Una grabbed him.

"Is that an Illuminati base?" Una questioned.

"Wha… what do you…" the guard began to stutter.

"I know," Una replied, "Is that an Illuminati base?"

"Yes," the guard said nervously.

**Path**

Arthur and the others sat on exposed tree stumps waiting patiently for Una to return, and hopefully with good news. After about half an hour, Una slowly made her way through he maze of branches and landed in the middle of the group.

"Did you find anything?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, there is a large facility about half a mile north of here," Una answered, "It's run by the Illuminati."

"That, I was fairly certain of," Arthur replied, "How to we get in?"

"It has only one entrance, which is on the roof," Una answered, "I'll need to carry you up to it, which would mean, miss Rachel that it would be better that you waited until we were on the roof before you shifted forms."

"Okay," Rachel sighed, "Hopefully they don't have any guards on the ground outside the compound."

**Illuminati Compound**

"Are you sure this is necessary?" one man asked, armed with a handgun asked as he and three others began walking up a flight of stairs toward the roof of the facility.

"I told you, I heard a noise," the second man replied, "It sounded like something howling or something."

"There are no dogs or wolves in this area," a third man commented, "How could you hear something howling?"

"I did hear howling," the second man insisted.

"You're delusional," the fourth man in the group commented in a disbelieving voice.

They then continued until they got to the top of the stairs and walked out onto the roof. There, they were shocked to find two human men, one brandishing a broadsword, one two legged white Pegasus female, and a large female wolf creature. All of them paled in surprise at the sight.

"You said something about hearing someone howl?" Rachel asked in a teasing voice.

"You're a…" the fourth man stuttered in surprise before a hastily cast sleep spell from Una put all of them to sleep.

"How long will they be out?" Rachel asked.

"Long enough," Una answered, "But we won't get another chance once we're inside."

"Let's get moving," Arthur commented, "It will probably take time to find the people they've kidnapped."

The group then moved into the Illuminati fortress with both speed and caution.

Meanwhile, Agent Eternal and Three had returned to the main headquarters center of the facility.

"I trust everything was satisfactory?" Agent Eternal asked as he opened the door to his office.

"Yes, your progress has been very good, and the Council is looking forward to receiving your upcoming deliveries," Three answered with a smile.

They were interrupted by a lower ranking agent coming toward them at high speed and looking exceedingly frightened.

"What is it?" Agent Eternal demanded, "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Sir, we're under attack," the man answered quickly, "two men, a werewolf, and a white Pegasus walking on two legs have invaded the facility."

"A what?" Agent Eternal asked.

"What gender is the werewolf?" Three overrode his main agent's question.

"Female," the man answered.

"What do the two men look like?" Three asked.

"One looks like he's in his thirties or forties and is carrying a sword," the man replied, "the other is older with white hair."

"Pendragon," Three growled, looking extremely angry, "How the devil did they get here?"

"I don't know," the man whimpered.

"I didn't expect you to, do not worry," Three told him and turned to Agent Eternal, "Can you defeat them?"

"If you say that Merlin has lost his powers, I would say we might stand a chance against the two men," Agent Eternal responded, "but we don't have silver bullets here, so we will barely slow the werewolf down and we don't know what this 'Pegasus' can do."

"The Pegasus is a gargoyle," Three assured him, "they can be killed by anything and are especially vulnerable during the day."

"Yes, but if they lead with the werewolf, we can not stop her," Agent Eternal said nervously, "Has she bitten or clawed anyone?"

"No," the man answered, "From what I could see on the security camera is that she is deliberately avoiding doing either of those things."

"That's good," Agent Eternal sighed.

"That's expected," Three corrected, "Pendragon has only one female werewolf in his employ. She is the result of a project Agent Anglo tried in Britain. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time when our werewolf tried to get him sprinting up to that location. Where are they headed?"

"From what I could see, toward the spring and the labs," the man responded.

"We must stop them," Three said urgently, "Those labs must remain in our hands!"

The group slowly made their way down many flights of stairs, being slowed only occasionally by surprised scientists or by some guards trying to stop them, but they so far maintained the element of surprise, and were able to knock their opponents out very quickly. When they got to what had to be ground level they found a large area in which there was no floor, but earth. This was in a large room that covered a small pond.

"Don't tell me this is a resort," Rachel said in surprise at seeing the pond, looking very natural, and even healthy, despite the lack of sunlight or even fresh water entering the pond.

"I don't think this pond his here for recreation," Merlin commented as he stepped forward.

"Why is it here?" Arthur asked.

"This one likely goes back to when the Americas were unexplored," Merlin answered, "Rachel, Una, have either of you heard of Ponce de Leon?"

Both shook their heads.

"I figured, it's actually something that probably wouldn't be taught in British history classes," Merlin sighed, "but it is probably prevalent in American history. Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer set on finding the fabled 'Fountain of Youth'."

"And he found it here?" Una asked.

"No, he never found it," Merlin answered, "Largely as the Illuminati through their system of sorcerers had already found it. They then left potential clues that kept Leon searching in Florida rather then here."

"So it makes you young if you bathe in it?" Rachel asked looking at the pond.

"No," Merlin answered, "It actually requires a fair amount of spells cast in order for it to work, and it only works on small bits of the water. The Illuminati knows those spells and knows the ingredients necessary to make the spells affect the water in the right way."

"And the ingredients would include human blood," Arthur commented.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "Given the size of this facility, the Illuminati have probably been doing something that somehow sends the powers of the magically empowered water into something else, like a pill or turning it into a drug that is injected, like vaccines."

"So the Illuminati has a ton of immortal agents out there?" Rachel asked.

"Probably, so long as they take the pill or the drug," Merlin answered, "The affects of the 'fountain of youth', even with all the right spells are not permanent."

"How do you know all of this, Old Friend?" Arthur asked curiously.

Merlin was never able to answer as a new voice cut in from behind them.

"Because Merlin is a…" Three spoke in a clear voice as he and several Illuminati Agents entered, "Or better yet, was one of Earth's most powerful 'mortal' sorcerers. With those powers at his disposal, he was able to monitor many of the activities that he was not and could not have been involved in, just as the Illuminati's sorcerers used their magics to learn the true purpose of the Fountain of Youth and exploit it for its proper uses. Now, step away from the pool."

"You!" Arthur growled, "You're the one who stole Merlin's powers!"

"Yes, I did," Three smiled, "And he will never get them back. I don't know how you got here, but if you surrender now, I promise your deaths will be painless."

Arthur only growled and lunged forward and landed a strong punch against the closest guard, knocking him back into another guard.

"Kill them!" Three screamed as he stepped back to keep himself from being attacked.

Rachel leaped at another, grabbed him by shoulders and threw him across the room. She then snarled at the closest guard to her, which startled him enough that he didn't notice Arthur coming up behind him. The Once and Future King took the man down and knocked him out.

The other two guards fired off shots at Una and Merlin. Una managed to dodge the shot aimed at her and the shot at Merlin was poorly aimed as the guard had also jumped at Rachel's growls and snarls. Merlin then readied the Ring of Fielder and aimed a small telekinesis spell that he remembered which disarmed the guards. Una then knocked them out by slamming their heads together. This left Three on his own and he was greatly surprised by Merlin's use of mortal sorcery.

"How could you…" Three gasped, "I made it impossible for you to use magic!"

"You took away the powers that were from my fey ancestry," Merlin answered, "I used those powers as a conduit to cast mortal spells. As a result, I can still cast mortal magic, although I need a different conduit."

"Conduit or not, you're still much weaker then you were before," Three snarled and raised an am at Merlin, ignoring the others.

Three was about to cast a spell to literally break Merlin in two when Arthur swung Excalibur in a powerful upward swing and severed Three's forearm from his body. Three screamed with pain and shuffled back towards the stairway he had come down.

"You will tell us how to reverse what you did at Stonehenge," Arthur commanded pointing Excalibur at three.

"Never," Three growled, "The Mage's prophecies will be fulfilled, and you are not a part of them!"

Rachel then leaped at Three, intending to knock him down and then hoping to scare him into talking. Her idea, however, was not very successful as Three hit her with a lightning spell with his other hand sending her flying into the pool.

"Rachel!" Arthur called after her, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Rachel sighed as she reached the surface, "I probably smell like a wet dog right now, but otherwise I'm fine."

"We should focus on Three," Una cut in, "He is the only one who could now how to reverse what was done to Merlin."

"You can not beat me!" Three growled, still gripping his wounded arm, and now sensing that if he pushed them much harder, he could very well end up dead, "and you haven't seen the last of me!"

Arthur and Una moved forward as Three then vanished into nothingness.

"What the…" Arthur commented as Three vanished.

"He fled," Merlin sighed, "It is to be expected. He lost an arm and was outnumbered."

"But he was strong in mortal magic," Arthur commented.

"Yes, but between you, Una, and Rachel, even if he focused all his powers on me to overpower what little Una has been teaching me, he would not have won and could have ended up being killed as a result," Merlin sighed, "Being strong doesn't mean you're invincible. That's generally been the destruction of every major conqueror on Earth. They see their own strength and refuse to believe that that strength can be beaten. Three wasn't about to risk death to defend the Fountain of Youth."

"That is what puzzles me," Una commented, "If combined with the right spell it should make someone younger, or slow their aging. Why just give it up?"

"More then likely they've managed to 'clone' the water somehow," Arthur commented, "That'd have to be the only explanation."

"That's probably it, taking some of the water from here to some other site," Merlin agreed.

"It's still puzzling," Una commented, "Taking the water to another site as a 'cloned' pool likely weakens the power of the water. This is the original, they should fight to defend it."

A buzzing alarm then startled them with a great deal of shock. Rachel and Una covered their ears as the alarm was too loud for them to bear easily.

"A fire alarm?" Arthur asked.

"That's why he left, they're going to burn the base down to kill us inside it!" Merlin gasped, "We've got to get the people they've kidnapped and get them out of here."

"I'll see if I can find some fire extinguishers," Rachel commented as Arthur, Merlin, and Una headed toward a nearby hallway.

Arthur moved down the hallway and was horrified by what he saw. There were a series of cells with thick glass doors that held a person that was strapped to a series pumps and medical tubing. The Illuminati had already taken a great deal of blood out of these people. Among the people was a young girl, who looked extremely weak.

"These people are monsters," Arthur growled.

Arthur then began opening the doors and moved in and set to carefully removing the needless from the poor people that the Illuminati had kidnapped. Merlin and Una quickly did the same thing with the others. As they made their way back towards the stairs, they found Rachel returning with a fire extinguisher in each hand.

"Are they alright?" Rachel asked.

"Alive, but like the others in that hut, very weak," Una answered.

"We need to get moving," Rachel said urgently, "The fire may be spreading by now."

They then rushed as fast as they could to make it to the exit, which was at the roof, which meant they might have to challenge the super heated flames anyway. As they got closer to the roof, they found the flames still blazing, but so far, the base's own automated sprinkler systems had kept the fire from completely consuming the burnable pieces of fuel. Rachel set to work clearing path with the fire extinguishers, but it wasn't easy.

"Perhaps it might have been better to try and cut our way out of the basement," Merlin commented as they continued to move up the stairs.

"Maybe, but we won't have time now that we've come this far," Arthur commented, "I'm thankful these stairs are metal. A wooden staircase would have burnt up already."

They kept moving to the roof, and found the flames were far tougher to deal with the closer they got to the roof. By the time they got there, both of Rachel's fire extinguishers were empty, and there was enough fire on the roof, that they couldn't easily get to the edge.

"Can you get airborne from here?" Arthur asked Una.

"I need to be near the edge, and the height of this facility is not high enough to adequately glide," Una answered, "And even if it was, carrying the Illuminati's victim add extra weight that I'll need to compensate for."

"Could you cast a spell to get rid of some of the fire?" Rachel asked, "I think I can jump off of here, but I'd probably break a leg and I can't carry much in the way of passengers."

Una handed the victim she had taken to Rachel and began going through a pouch on her belt. She thought she had something, but she didn't know how well it would work. Una pulled out a small feather and chanted lightly. After a few moments, she let the feather go and it seemed to grow in size until if formed a bridge between their spot and the edge of the Illuminati facility.

"Go quickly," Una urged, "The feather will burn up as well in time."

They quickly rushed to the edge of the burning facility and looked down to the ground below them, which thankfully wasn't on fire.

"I can make the jump," Rachel commented, "don't worry about me."

Rachel then leaped from the roof with the one victim she was carrying. She landed easily a few feet away from the edge of the wall.

"I will be as quick as possible in shuttling you and the other people the Illuminati kidnapped," Una said and began to glide down with the first of the two victims that Merlin and Arthur had rescued.

Arthur meanwhile looked back to see that Una's feather was starting to be consumed by the flames that the Illuminati had set to burn down their own facility. Thankfully the part of the feather closest to them wasn't on fire yet, so Arthur wasn't seriously worried, but it did concern him. He kept looking at the flames until he heard Una practically yelling at him. He sighed and let Una carry him down to the ground.

"Is there anything that can be done to put the fire out?" Arthur asked as they landed.

"I don't have anything," Una sighed.

"I don't think I have anything that would be useful," Merlin added, "And even if I did, my ring wouldn't have the strength to perform the spell required. We might just have to let this fire burn itself out, and since the structure is metal, I doubt it will spread. It will eventually burn all the available fuel inside that facility."

In the end, Merlin's prediction was correct. The fires burned themselves out, and most of the structure remained standing. While the last bits of smoke drifted into the air, Arthur and his group slowly returned to the jungle path with the people the Illuminati had kidnapped.

"Will the Illuminati return here?" Rachel asked as she began to return to her human form.

"Maybe," Merlin sighed, "If only to protect the pool, although with what Khan is doing, their organization might not last much longer, so I don't think anyone can know for sure."

"They probably won't mess with the villages in this area though," Arthur commented, "Three did seem surprised to see us here."

There was a brief silence before Arthur spoke again.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to capture him, old friend," Arthur spoke weakly.

"Even if we did capture him, Three is not about to betray his own plans, and he is probably already aware that we will not treat anyone in a dishonorable fashion, which means he knows he can afford to be defiant. We will have to find another way to reverse what Three did to me, and preferably one that doesn't go against one's sense of morals."

The group then continued on in silence.

**Unknown Location**

Three growled furiously to himself as he walked towards his office in the main Illuminati headquarters. He was angry, not because the Illuminati had essentially lost the Fountain of Youth, and thus the 'immortality drugs' that were produced from it, but the fact that it was Arthur Pendragon and his allies that had taken the Fountain of Youth away from the Illuminati. He didn't know how Pendragon got to the Amazon, but he was both determined to find out and crush him before he found some way to cure his teacher.

**To Be Continued…**


	21. Escaping Old Ghosts

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Surprise Inspection".

Escaping Old Ghosts

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Unknown Location**

Three looked through a long list of papers and information that the Illuminati had collected on magic and on Merlin. He was still furious that Merlin had appeared in the Amazon River Basin, not so much that he opposed the Council's plans there, but that there was no indication that he would show up there. Everything he knew indicated that Merlin and Arthur's allies were in England at the time. He should not have been there especially considering that he didn't have his powers.

"How could he have been there?!" Three screamed and slammed his fists.

"Three?" a voice asked from behind him.

Three turned to find one of his Five standing in the doorway.

"Is their something troubling you, Three?" Five asked.

"Merlin," Three answered, "He appeared where he was not expected or wanted."

"He is a great 'magician'," Five commented, "His moves can not be unexpected."

"No," Three responded shaking his head, "I've already robbed him of his powers. He's powerless now, and besides, his opposition to us is not the issue. It's the fact that a powerless 'magician' went from London, England to the Amazon rainforest overnight."

"Makes me wish that the Unseelies were still around," Five commented, "We could get information out of them."

"If they had won the war, while our current enemies in New York and London would be destroyed," Three began, "I will remind you that Madoc would have enslaved us in the end as well. Besides, only the Mage had contact with him directly. We are only trying to carry out his wishes now he's gone."

"Only for a thousand years," Five replied, "And if Merlin's powerless, then I'd say that we've done enough to insure that he can not influence the Mage's prophecies, which will insure that he does return."

"I pray you are right," Three answered, "but, the fact that he is traveling over great distances without his powers. We must know how, just to make sure the man does not get lucky."

"I will do what I can to make sure our people are alert to his presence," Five answered, "One way or another, we'll catch him."

**Elsewhere**

The mist cleared for Arthur to find their small boat floating in the middle of a relatively small lake. He could see both shores and was surprised to find it very peaceful. The water was calm and there did not appear to be any sign of human activity.

"This is a quiet place," Rachel commented as they slowly drifted toward the edge of the lake, "Where do you suppose we are?"

"I don't know," Arthur commented, "There doesn't appear to be anyone around."

"And that is how it should be…" a voice said eerily through the air, although there was no obvious sign as to who said it.

"Okay, that's freaky," Rachel commented, "Who said that?"

Arthur shook his head as he carefully guided the boat among a large clump of reeds along the shore of the lake, taking care not to knock over Una's stone form. Once that was done, he slowly made his way through the reeds, finding it all to be very muddy and not really dry.

"I don't know," Arthur again sighed, "it wasn't any of us, maybe we're here to expel a ghost or something."

"I'm more concerned about finding out where we are," Merlin commented, "We can't solve any problem if we can't determine our location or find anyone."

"So, do you know where we are?" Rachel asked.

Merlin looked around again. He saw reeds around him and there was a small grove of trees nearby and a field of tall grass just outside the reeds they were presently in. In the distance he thought he could make out another lake near the one that they had appeared on, but he wasn't sure at the moment.

"I honestly don't know," Merlin sighed, "I would guess that we are either somewhere in Europe or North America, but with no one apparently here, I can not tell for sure, as I am not much of an expert on plant and animal life."

"I'll venture out and see if I can find a town or some sort of settlement," Arthur volunteered, "Hopefully, there is one nearby."

"And if there isn't?" Rachel asked.

"I'll turn around when the sun sets, and we can then move as a group," Arthur replied, "But for now, you will be needed to make sure nothing happens to Una while she sleeps."

"Alright," Merlin nodded.

They then watched as Arthur began to trudge along the shore of the lake and begin his search for a nearby town or village. Merlin and Rachel meanwhile moved to sit in the long grass while waiting for the sun to set. Both were really confused about why they were where they were. There was no one there and there didn't appear to be a problem that they could notice.

"It seems like a nice place," Rachel commented as Merlin began trying to push the grasses down so that they weren't going everywhere, "Kinda weird that we were sent here, but I won't deny that it is nice."

"Well, maybe there is something that we haven't seen yet," Merlin sighed, "As they say, 'stranger things have happened'."

"Nothing is strange here," a voice echoed over the wind, again with no real point of origin.

"Like that," Rachel grumbled, "I'd really like to know where that is coming from."

"We'd best wait until Arthur gets back with some information about where we are and until Una wakes up," Merlin told her, "The last thing we need to do is separate and wander around aimlessly."

Rachel slowly nodded and sighed.

**Later**

It was nearly dusk when Arthur returned. Rachel hoped he had found something that might indicate something, but he still looked fairly concerned.

"Did you find out where we are?" Merlin asked as Arthur approached.

"I found a dirt road not to far away," Arthur answered, "You can still see the lake, but thankfully not our boat. There was a sign nearby that said Bald Eagle Lake. I think we're somewhere in North America."

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "The bald eagle only lives in North America, and if my studies on foreign countries is correct, it is also the national bird of the United States. We might be somewhere in America."

"Not New York or LA, I guess," Rachel commented as she looked at the rather natural surroundings.

"No, but we could be anywhere," Merlin sighed, "America and Canada are big countries, and with the exception of a few areas, there are large areas that are either remote, or simply uninhabited for various reasons. Certain American states have very low population densities. For all we know, there is no town for miles and the closest 'settlement' is some guy's ranch or farm."

"So, is there any idea as to why we are here?" Arthur asked, "Wherever Bald Eagle Lake is."

"I'd think it has something to do with this voice we've been hearing," Rachel commented, "It's really creeped me out when it speaks."

"There is no one here," the voice spoke out making each of them jump slightly.

"Yes, it is creepy," Merlin nodded, "but we'd best wait until Una wakes up, so that we're all together."

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "Una's wings will allow us to search a wider area then we can, and her senses are stronger then ours are."

"And that won't be far away," Rachel commented, looking at the horizon as the sky filled with the many colors of dusk, "And I can help as well, should it be needed."

The others nodded as they watched the sun set, and they were soon greeted by the sound of stone cracking and breaking as Una awoke from her stone slumber. The white unicorn-like gargoyle slowly made her way out of the reeds looking fairly agitated that the reeds surrounding the lake were not dry, but she otherwise looked alright.

"So where are we?" Una asked, "Other then some peaceful wilderness."

"Somewhere in North America," Arthur answered, "A place called Bald Eagle Lake."

"Where all is calm," a voice echoed on the wind, which made Una's ears stand straight up.

"That I believe is our reason for being here," Merlin answered, "It's been speaking off and on since we arrived."

"It is not natural," Una said firmly.

"You noticed that as well?" Merlin commented, "I can guess that it is, as there is no one else here, but you are more skilled then I in mortal magic in truest sense of mortal magic. Can you sense where it is coming from?"

"Not instinctively," Una answered, "And I'm afraid I do not have ingredients needed to cast a spell that could artificially track the voice down."

Merlin then looked down with a heavy sigh.

"You could however try talking with this voice," Una commented, "If you can hear it, surely whoever is speaking can hear you."

"Suppose it is a ghost? Or some spirit that is running through some past event?" Rachel asked, "Can it answer?"

"I do not know what it is, but unless we have some sort of recording device here somewhere, there has to be someone here who is speaking," Una explained, "And that 'person' is using magic to make their voice appear to have no source."

"There is no one here," the voice spoke, although, it now sounded as though it was trying to deny what had been said and did not sound as eerie as it had earlier.

"Now," Rachel answered slowly, "That almost sounded like he was arguing with you."

"And that is how I propose we deal with this," Una answered, "From what I heard when it first spoke it sounds as if it doesn't want people like us around. It might be best to figure out why."

Una then stood up and took a few paces away from the group and spoke loudly into the air, almost shouting.

"Alright, we know you're here," Una spoke, "Come out and face us."

"No," came the voice's answer.

"You're going to hide and make eerie voices at anyone who comes by here?" Una demanded.

"Leave me alone," the voice answered.

"And let you haunt others?" Arthur asked, beginning to grasp what Una was doing.

"I'm not haunting anyone!" the voice said firmly.

"You scared us all half to death," Rachel spoke up, "Tell me that's not haunting?"

"Just leave me alone," the voiced seemed to practically plead with them.

"That is not possible, as we know you're here," Una answered, "And we know you want us to go, which means you're hiding something, and we will not leave until we find out what it is. If villainous, we will stop you, and if not, we will try to help you."

"I am no villain, and there is nothing that can be done to help," the voice answered.

"Let us try," Una urged, "You've already revealed yourself to us by speaking. Letting us see you and speak with you like normal people, well as normal as I can get."

For a second there was nothing, except for the sound of a few crickets chirping in the distance. Then, after a few moments, a rather elderly looking man appeared standing in the tall grass, not that far away from Rachel. He moved slowly and carefully to a position where all of them could speak with them.

"You can try all you want, but there is nothing you can do for me," the man spoke solemnly.

"And why is that?" Rachel asked.

"Because my purpose is to hide," the man answered, pulling his long white hair back to reveal a pair of fairly long and pointed ears.

"You're a fey?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, and one who survived the first Unseelie War," the man answered, "And I do not want to be involved with my people, or anyone else for that matter any more."

"Why is that?" Arthur asked.

"It's a long story," the man sighed.

"We have plenty of time," Merlin told him.

"Well…" the man began.

**Europe, Long Ago…**

"Come on Caster," a young female fey commented, "Madoc and his followers have been maintaining a powerful fortress here."

A younger, blonde haired version of the same fey that at present sat with Arthur and his companions as a man closely followed the female as they moved through a thick forest and brush towards a small mountain in the distance. It had been rumored that the Unseelie leader, Madoc had established a base there from which he had been attacking his brother, Oberon on Avalon and the second and first races that supported Oberon.

"I still don't know why we are on this mission," Caster replied, "Neither of us are strong enough for battle with the Unseelies. Even Madoc's weakest minions are stronger in magic then we are."

"Yes," the female nodded, "But we are not as easily noticed. And our only mission is to find the castle and pinpoint its location. The Sisters will lead the assault force."

The continued to move forward and were quiet until Caster's partner suddenly fell into a hole that she didn't see, or one that had been hidden somehow. Caster reached to try and catch her, but he was not strong enough to stay on the top of the hole, and he fell in as well. Once inside, he felt some strange force that pulled him to toward the bottom of the hole like a large magnet. After a few moments, he blacked out from some sort of power overload.

When Caster came to, he found himself and his partner chained to the ground in the middle of Stonehenge with Madoc and a few members of the Unseelie Court looking down on him.

"I had a feeling that my brother would do something like this," Madoc commented, "Send weaklings to try and find me, thinking I'd ignore him."

"You won't get away with this," Caster said firmly.

Madoc smiled, "I'm afraid I have. Neither your or your partner can escape, and since you have yet to report in, my brother assumes that you are still in central Europe looking for me. But I have brought you here."

Caster only looked on in fear Madoc then floated into the air above him and his partner while his followers moved outside the large stones that made up Stonehenge. He then began to cast a spell that Caster feared and knew was coming.

Madoc chanted…

"_Stones ringed for mysterious ways,_

_drain these fools,_

_and level them weak till the end of days!"_

Caster watched as the stones of Stonehenge began to glow and the magic within him was soon being painfully pulled out of his body. He screamed with all his might, but since he could not break free of the chains that held him done, he soon found himself without his powers and weak. A few moments later he blacked out from the pain.

**Present**

"You had your powers drained?" Rachel asked.

Caster nodded, "The Weird Sisters managed to restore my powers after the First Unseelie War ended, but by then I had aged to my present physical age and was of even less use to the Seelie Court then I was before. Madoc was evil, but my experiences in the First Unseelie War lead me to believe that Oberon was no better, and I was determined not to serve him anymore. And even though Oberon has died, I will not serve his wife either, I will not be used."

"And so you've been hiding here to avoid the Gathering and the Second Unseelie War," Arthur guessed.

"Yes," Caster nodded, "Why are you so curious about this?"

"Mostly because of who I am and what has recently happened to me," Merlin answered, "My name is Merlin Hawkins. I am a fey halfling, and in the Middle Ages I was the adviser of Arthur Pendragon."

"The 'Once and Future King'," Caster commented, "I take it you have had your powers stolen from you? I'm afraid to say that I am not strong enough to restore your powers if you are looking for me to do your work for you."

"No, we seek to do the work ourselves," Merlin answered, "We thought you could shed some light on how Madoc stole yours so we can come up with some theories as to how mine were taken."

"Theories?" Caster asked.

"My powers were robbed by a human sorcerer," Merlin explained, "Which means there are bound to be some differences between the wording and the nature of the spells cast."

"Madoc only used Stonehenge to amplify his own powers," Caster spoke, "The stones have been altered magically to act as a magnet to fey magic, but it still requires a spell caster to activate them. If a mortal sorcerer robbed you, he likely used some sort of powder and the words 'energy drain' in Latin. All you ought to do is find the same sort of powder that was used and use a spell that involves the word 'restore' in Latin."

"You think that will work?" Merlin asked.

Caster nodded, "My knowledge of mortal magic is limited, but yes, I think so."

"Whatever happened to your friend?" Rachel asked curiously, "Did she get her powers back?"

"No," Caster sighed, "Her fate is another reason why I've chosen remote areas as my hideouts and tried to 'haunt' people away."

**Britain, the Ancient Past…**

"Oberon will never forgive us for this," Caster's friend lamented we failed.

"Hella, we were used," Caster told her, "There was no way we could have fought Madoc off or escaped that trap he laid for us. We weren't powerful enough, but we were sent to do a job we couldn't physically do. We were set up to fail."

"Madoc is evil, Caster," Hella answered, "If he wins, all the world will suffer under him and his followers."

"I know that, and I don't support Madoc either," Caster answered, "but I feel that we have been used. We're better suited to intellectual studies, not fighting. We're not powerful enough nor cunning enough to fight other fey in a fast fight. We might be able to trick one or two of them if given time to set it up, but how often in the Unseelie War so far have we had the opportunity to do so?"

"Never," Hella sighed.

"That is my point," Caster sighed, "And now we're stuck here in northwestern Europe, on an island, and without our powers. We're practically at the mercy of the natives who live here, who surely have not felt some damage as result of the war."

Caster immediately wished he hadn't said that as a group of men armed with crudely made axes and swords, made out of bronze came out of the woods that surrounded the dirt path the two were walking on.

"Look at these two!" one man sneered angrily, "Ever seen anyone dressed like that?"

"No," another man chuckled, "but then I think these people are one of them fairies that's been destroying our crops and murdering our gargoyle allies over who gets to be 'king'."

"They shall not be our King!" another said firmly, "We're free!"

"Wait, we haven't done anything to you!" Caster said quickly, "It is Madoc and the Unseelies who have done these wrongs, not us."

"But you insist on fighting your war on our lands," the first man said firmly, "No matter how good you are personally, you refuse to fight with honor and my people and our allies have suffered for it."

"Madoc has done that," Hella pleaded and stepped forward, "He knows you're vulnerable and will attack your people to draw ours out to fight them. If we do nothing, you will suffer more."

"Then why don't you fight one major battle and end the war in one stroke?" the first man asked, "It would spare us the effects of your battling."

"I don't know," Hella spoke, "I'm terribly sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"My child's lost its mother, and our tribe is now raising a clan of gargoyle hatchlings," the first man spoke, "You could help them grow up to be good, wise warriors, and you could provide my daughter with a mother-type figure as most of our tribe's women have also been killed."

"What about me?" Caster asked.

"You will join our tribes warriors in trying to gather up those that were scattered as a result of the recent battles that your people have had," the first man spoke, "and I will warn you that some of the results are not pleasant."

**Present**

"And so we ended up joining that tribe," Caster went on, "but as time went on, I became more and more disappointed by my lack of ability to do simple spells and began to draw away and Hella became more and more guilt ridden by what our war had done, and did as much as she could to try and help the tribe we had fallen into. The more she spent time with them, the closer she became to them, until finally she married the leader, the first man that we had seen, and decided not to seek to get her powers restored, when the Unseelie War ended, I caught the attention of one of the Seelie fey on a patrol for fey who had had their powers stolen, but Hella would not come with me, and I was punished for not bringing her by Oberon."

"Sounds like something he would do," Merlin commented.

"Once I had my powers back, I returned to the tribe, hoping to fix their problems easily," Caster continued, "And found they didn't want that sort of help. I tried my best to persuade them that it would reverse a lot of the damage that the war did, but they refused, and that is what made me feel guilty about the First Unseelie War. It destroyed everything it touched, robbed me of my powers, and when I finally regained them, I couldn't even help the people that it had hurt. I said my goodbyes to Hella, and promised to be there for her funeral, and left for some remote place where my people would never be able to hurt me again in any such way."

"And so you came here," Arthur commented, "It is peaceful."

"Even this area has known its times of strife," Caster sighed, "but it is better then what I've known."

"You can't hide here forever," Una said firmly, "You seem to be running away from problems. That's never a solution."

"Have you ever felt that there was nothing you could do?" Caster asked, "Or that there was nothing that was worth doing?"

"Yes," Una sighed, "But I was wrong for thinking so, and it turns out that my feelings were over nothing to begin with. Oberon wasn't the best leader ever, but there is a great difference between him and Titania."

"Can you be certain of that?" Caster questioned, "She did nothing to stop some of Oberon's more arrogant decisions."

"You and I know that there was nothing she could have done," Merlin pointed out, "Oberon rarely changed his mind, if at all, and when he did change his mind it was usually the result of him being defeated. And you should know how rare that is."

Caster nodded, "even still, Titania never took a stand to say that she didn't approve of what he did, even if he would do it anyway."

"Why protest to deaf ears," Rachel commented, "Before I met Arthur and Merlin, I knew many people who refused to listen to anyone, even if that person was in charge or wise or smarter. It's like banging your head against a brick wall. When people don't listen, it's useless to advise them on anything. They're going to do what you want no matter what is said. If one of them wanted to put his finger in an electric socket and dump water on himself, there was nothing anyone could do to stop them. If they didn't do it at work, they'd wait till they went home and no one could stop them."

"There is a difference between a stubborn coworker and Oberon," Caster answered, "Oberon's stubbornness and decisions ruined the lives of many people. Others suffered for Oberon's mistakes. I will not be a party to such actions again."

"And so you sit here alone," Una commented, "Don't you wish to interact with anyone? Even if you don't want to go back to the Seelie Court, surely you shouldn't mind working with people?"

"And what will that accomplish?" Caster asked, "Mortals all die in the end and their problems go in circles. Nothing I do would be worthwhile."

"It's not so much that any changes last forever," Una commented, "but mortality is something all non-fey have to deal with. If you really work well to help someone, they will remember that for the rest of their lives. That must be good if they like you."

"And if you're looking something that is longer lasting, you'll have to return to the Seelies," Merlin commented, "Titania is not Oberon and the Unseelies have been completely defeated. You might find your place as a scholar, and you don't have to live in this self-imposed exile and being lonely. I mean there have to be things that you miss while you're out here."

"There are," Caster nodded, "but I don't want to be used anymore in things I can't do. And I don't want to be put in a position where I will face extreme heartbreak of seeing friends die of old age."

"There are risks in everything," Arthur commented, "leaders are always concerned with what must be done and what must not be done. When you do one thing, you'll have a consequence for it, but if you don't do something, you'll have consequences then too."

Caster could only nod, "This is all a lot to think about."

"Hopefully you make the right decision," Merlin commented, "As much as you've tried to be alone, it's clear to anyone, regardless of whether or not they know magic, that you're lonely."

"I know," Caster sighed, "and I must admit that it has been good to talk to someone. It has been lonely, no matter how much I've tried to say I wanted to be alone."

Caster then vanished and disappeared, leaving them alone in the dark.

"Do you think he'll go anywhere?" Rachel asked.

"He has a lot to think about," Merlin answered, "And if he feels he was simply 'used' by Oberon, he has good reason not to be super keen on rejoining the Seelie fey, but Titania is very different from her now dead husband. She won't treat him the way Oberon did."

**The Next Morning**

Caster reappeared the next morning as Arthur and Rachel were setting their boat to leave, and he knew that they hopped Avalon's mists would send them on their way. Merlin wasn't too far away cleaning up the campsite that had been set up after he left.

"So you're off to continue searching for Merlin's cure?" Caster asked.

"Yes," Arthur answered, "He is more then a teacher to me. He is like a father and a friend. I owe him for all that he has done for me."

"I wish you the best of luck," Caster told him, "I'm sorry I can't help you, but I guess after talking with you, that I've found I've been hiding for too long. This is a beautiful place to visit, but I should find my place to live and serve. Maybe Titania is better, or maybe she knows of a place where my skills as an intellect will be best served."

"Much of what we will face will involve fighting anyway," Arthur commented, "I wouldn't want to bring you into such a situation."

Caster nodded.

"Have a good journey," Rachel said to him.

"Thank you," Caster replied, "Although it is I who should thank you. You all remind me so much of Hella and provided me with something that I felt I lost."

And with that, Caster vanished for the last time from Arthur and Rachel's sight.

**Avalon**

Caster appeared just outside the gates to the Great Hall inside Avalon's castle and was surprised by many of the changes he saw when he entered. While he found Titania seated on a throne, he also found the presence of two humans seated at a small table nearby and there were a the stone forms of sleeping gargoyles along the railing of the floor above the main floor of the Great Hall. He immediately found this to be a vast improvement over what Oberon had and his policies.

"You have come a long way, lost one," came Titania's voice from the throne, "It was thought that you had died."

"I had not," Caster answered, "Madam. I went into exile, as I found your husband's treatment of me and my dear Hella to be poor, and when she died, I found no will to return."

"Oberon was a good man at heart, and I did love him," Titania said firmly, "Always remember that. But, I will not deny that he made his own mistakes. Perhaps, lost one, the treatment of you and of many others during the First Unseelie War was the greatest mistake he made."

"What happened to him?" Guardian Tom asked from his table as Caster's appearance had raised some curiosity of his own.

"That is Caster's tale to tell," Titania said, "and one he can use as an adviser my Court, hopefully to provide the Seelie Court with the conscience not to make the same mistakes again."

**The End…**


	22. Annoyances

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Escaping Old Ghosts".

Annoyances

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London**

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Dragon is currently investigating a case that has taken away from London," Macbeth said in firm voice, "I'm afraid that I can not tell you when he will be back."

"But, my 'case' for him is certainly strange," the man insisted, "Isn't that the kind of case he said he would take on?"

"It would be, if he was able to hear your case," Macbeth tried to explain and doing a poorer job of trying to hide his frustration, "he is not even in Britain at the moment."

"Can you take the case, then?" the man asked.

Macbeth only sighed.

"I am not licensed for such work," Macbeth warned, "I'll accept any information you personally wish to share, but if does not relate to some danger to the city that any 'concerned citizen' might become involved in, I'm afraid I can not do anything."

"I'd think the thing is strange enough that it could be counted as dangerous," the man said insistently.

"Strange doesn't necessarily equal dangerous," Macbeth cautioned, "Many people thought the locomotive to be strange when it was first invented."

The man didn't look like he believed a word and completely insistent that Macbeth 'take' the case.

"Come inside," Macbeth instructed, "It'd be better discuss this inside."

Arthur then lead the man inside and to the main 'living room', which was empty for the moment. The man quickly sat down as Macbeth moved a chair over to maintain a professional atmosphere.

"Now, what is this strange thing that you think is dangerous?" Macbeth asked.

"Well, it occurred last night," the man spoke nervously, "I was actually getting ready for bed when I heard this barking howl outside my window. Now, some nut in the apartments next to ours has some yappy little dog, and at first, I thought it was that dog. But then I heard something that sounded like raw electricity going through the air, and I got curious."

The man then nervously brushed his hair back before continuing.

"So I went to my window and looked out," the man continued, "That guy's dog was out and it was barking, but that wasn't the thing that was strange. It was this thing running down the ally between our buildings. It looked like some giant dog with wings."

"A dog with wings?" Macbeth asked suspiciously.

"Yes," the man answered, "That's what it looked like."

"That does certainly sound strange," Macbeth commented, "but it sounds like what you saw was a gargoyle."

"A what?" the man asked.

"A gargoyle," Macbeth answered, "a nocturnal creature that tries to protect an area it claims as a 'protectorate'."

"Don't they live in New York, though?" the man asked, "I mean, this is London."

"There is a statue honoring the service of gargoyles in the Battle of Britain," Macbeth reminded the man, "It could be quite possible that there are some still alive in Britain."

"Can you check it out?" the man asked, "I mean suppose it views humans as threat. I mean the reports from New York seem to indicate that there is no consensus formally about whether or not gargoyles are good or not."

"I'm afraid that unless you see it commit a crime, there is little I can do," Macbeth answered, "Prove its existence, maybe, but that's about. If you truly feel its dangerous, then, I'd suggest you talk to the police or animal control."

"They didn't believe me," the man spoke, sounding embarrassed.

Macbeth sighed again and then spoke, "I'll see what I can do to see if what you 'saw' really exists, but I can not promise anything."

"Thank you," the man replied and eagerly shook Macbeth's hand, "Thank you."

Macbeth nodded and then quietly lead the man out. Once the man had shut the door, Macbeth gave a heavy and frustrated sigh. This was one of the things that was beginning to frustrate him since Arthur, Merlin, Rachel, and Una had left. He was now having to 'take' Arthur's clients that came looking for a private investigator. Normal cases, Macbeth could handle easily by either referring them to someone else, or asking them to wait, and many of those people were surprisingly willing to do so. It was the more 'unusual' cases that Arthur took on that gave him more trouble. They were usually very insistent that their case be taken an could not wait for Arthur to return.

It frustrated Macbeth because it was not something he had intended to do with his life, especially when half of the 'strange' cases were usually pranks or not serious. This one had the potential to be serious though. The sighting of a winged dog and hearing electricity tipped it off to Macbeth as to who was causing trouble. He would still have to wait until evening to really do anything about it though. Once the sun set, the gargoyles quickly came down for their breakfast while Macbeth looked over work that his students had handed in.

"So, anything happen today?" Griff asked.

"There was nothing on the news," Macbeth answered, "although

I did receive some information that you might want to watch out for."

"Such as?" Octavia asked.

"It was one of Arthur's clients," Macbeth spoke slowly, "I believe he spotted Lucius running down an alley near his apartment."

"Did he say what Lucius was up to?" Lancelot asked.

"His sighting was from a distance, and if correct, Lucius was already leaving the area," Macbeth explained, "He is rapidly becoming a nuisance more then anything else."

"Nuisance or not, Lucius and his followers are dangerous and obsessed with the past," Julia spoke, "Octavia and I respect the history of Ancient Rome, but we don't want to resurrect it.

"And with his ability as a mutate, he could do an awful lot of damage," Octavia added.

"And you should keep an eye ought for him," Macbeth nodded, "but unless he's come up with some sort of 'cartoon doomsday device' I doubt he poses a real threat to the country as a whole. He is not smart enough, and eventually the police would catch and shoot him. I'd think that our effort would be to insure that he is dealt with before he causes that much trouble."

"We're not to kill him, are we?" Chloe asked, "That could get us in trouble?"

"Not if there are any other options available," Macbeth answered, "I've see more then enough death in my lifetime. The only death I'd wan to see is my own, but I don't think I will get that opportunity. Capturing Lucius should be the main objective."

"Have you heard anything from Una and the others?" Leo asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing today, I'm afraid," Macbeth commented, "but I'm sure they're all fine."

"So, what is the plan for tonight?" Lancelot asked eagerly.

"I believe it is Guinevere's, Gawain's, and your turn to help Leo down at the shop," Griff commented, "that is unless you don't require help tonight?"

"Having a hand is always good," Leo nodded.

"The rest of us were to patrol as normal, but I suppose we could check out the area that he is active in," Griff then commented, "Did the man say where he spotted Lucius?"

"He said he saw Lucius while looking out his bedroom window in his apartment," Macbeth commented, "He did give the street address of his apartment when he first arrived. In fact, it's only a block or so away from Una and Leo's shop."

"That actually sounds good," Griff commented, "We'll check that area first. If Lucius is there alone, we'll capture him. If not, we can easily call for reinforcements."

"Will you help us?" Gawain asked, turning to look at Macbeth.

"Only as a final reserve," Macbeth answered, "I've been rather busy with things during the day and need to catch on the work that I normally do."

**Elsewhere**

Lucius sat quietly inside a hidden facility that the Illuminati had set him and his followers in. It was far below what he felt he deserved, but for the time being he decided he would put up with it. The Illuminati had expended a great deal of effort to train his followers in various combat styles, so that they wouldn't be completely dependent on their electric powers. That left him with a lot of spare time to try and think of some plan to destroy Arthur. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to think of much other then to directly provoke a battle, which he and his followers had not been victorious in at all.

Even if he had won some battles, the Illuminati wanted him to wait until they decided their training was no longer necessary. Waiting for that to happen was taking far longer then what Lucius had intended and was beginning to frustrate him slightly. He wanted them to be ready to fight, and his allies continually said that they weren't ready and asked for his immediate plans after defeating Arthur. Lucius never liked the look that he got when he tried to explain that he was still trying to come up with a plan to defeat Arthur, and hadn't thought about what to do after.

At present, Lucius was trying to work out some way of beating Arthur on his own. He knew that Arthur ran a private investigation service and was willing to take what might be perceived as strange cases and hoped that he might be able to lure Arthur out and alone. His plan involved creating small disturbances that would attract attention and to leave just as someone looked his way. So far it had attracted very little attention, but, he hoped that eventually Arthur would come snooping around. After a few moments, the man he knew as Agent Anglo entered the room he was in.

"Is there something you need help with?" Lucius asked.

"Not at the moment," Anglo responded, "I am here to see what you were doing and inquire if you needed any help."

"I believe I'm already receiving all the help your people are willing to give," Lucius commented.

"At the moment, all the 'physical' help, yes," Anglo nodded, "but there are other ways."

Lucius looked at the man with a slightly confused look on his face.

"We have tons of information and incredibly skilled advisors," Anglo explained, "we can help you make the right decisions and plan a battle that can work. Far better then blindly attacking someone. Brains always beats brawn."

"I already have a plan that will work," Lucius answered, "It will draw Pendragon to where I want him."

"It is already in motion?" Anglo asked, "Arthur is not in Britain. We've told you that."

"Then I will destroy his followers," Lucius replied, "he will be nothing without his allies, and then I can destroy him at my leisure."

"You're taking an awfully big risk, fighting the London Clan by yourself," Anglo commented, "Even with part of their group temporarily outside of London, you're still outnumbered, unless you thing your team is honestly ready."

And that was one of the things that really hit Lucius hard. As much as he disliked being told that his followers were weak, Lucius was doubly frustrated that that was also true. Criticism hurt and it really hurt when it was true.

"My intention is to beat them one at a time, not all at once," Lucius gave a frustrated sigh, "my men aren't ready yet."

"Then why don't you wait until they're ready?" Anglo commented, "you'd stand a better chance against the London Clan that way."

"Maybe, but it also enables them the time to make themselves stronger," Lucius answered, "this is a time for action. Not inaction."

"There are many kinds of action," Anglo warned.

"I will continue with my plan," Lucius said firmly, "You've told me that your organization wants Pendragon and his followers destroyed. I appear to be the only one actually trying to do something to accomplish that."

"Very well then," Anglo commented.

**Over London**

"Leo, may I ask a question?" Guinevere asked as they made their way toward the shop that was being rebuilt and opened once again.

"If Griff were here, he'd say you already asked one," Leo commented with a smile, "Go ahead and ask away."

"Um, earlier, Macbeth was talking about that he only wanted to see his own death," Guinevere commented, "What did he mean by that?"

Leo sighed slightly. The clan largely tried to avoid taking about Macbeth's personal life. Chloe did from time to time, but that was usually with Macbeth. Leo decided to at least say what he knew and keep the more personal details out of the story.

"As you know, he and Demona are forever tied to one another," Leo told the young Avalon female, "And from what we've learned about him from Chloe and from him, his life has been filled with personal loss, which means constantly remembering it in an immortal life can not be easy. I do not believe he is suicidal, but I do believe he wishes to have his mortality restored, but I do not know for sure and do not speak for him."

Guinevere nodded, "but he has new friends now, shouldn't that make him happy?"

"Old wounds are hard to heal," Leo told her, "When Una and I thought we lost Griff, we carried the wound until Goliath brought him to the present. Macbeth knew he was losing the ones he loved, and I'll also advise that it would be best to let him deal with his own personal demons in his own way."

Meanwhile, Griff, Octavia, Julia, and Chloe landed on the roof of an apartment building in the area where Macbeth's client had spotted Lucius. The night was quiet and at present there was no sign of any activity, normal or otherwise.

"I don't think that even Lucius is stupid enough to return to the scene of the original crime," Octavia commented.

"We'll have to split up then," Griff sighed, "London is too big to adequately patrol as one large group of four."

"What if we find Lucius and he has his followers with him?" Chloe asked, "Do you think two of us could beat all of them?"

"Contact the rest of us and Leo if you run into the whole group," Griff instructed, "I doubt Lucius has all his underlings working together on this, but might be best to say that it's possible. If they are together, call for reinforcements and try to shorten the distance that each reinforcing group would have to travel."

They were about to split up into their normal patrol teams when a strange barking noise was heard through the night air coming from a few blocks away. They then looked up to see what looked like a burst of electricity fly into the air and dissipate after getting what looked to them like a few feet above the rooftops.

"Or he could move a few blocks over and strike again there," Octavia commented.

"Let's go," Griff said urgently and took off, "before he gets away!"

Lucius moved as quickly as he could trying to get out of the alley he was in. He was sure he managed to get some lights turned on by barking and firing electric blasts into the air. He quickly moved to leave when someone threw a shoe at him from their apartment window. He was certain he could kill these people, but at the moment he didn't want to risk a fight with Arthur's gargoyles searching for him and potentially alerted to his location.

He quickly began to scramble up a fire escape in the hopes that it would speed his escape so that he could ambush the London gargoyles when they arrived. As he reached the roof he spotted four winged shapes in the air and moving in his direction. That immediately frustrated him and made him nervous. He planned on ambushing one gargoyle, and at most two, but he was easily outnumbered, and that meant that this would be a hard fight. His only real option for the moment was to try and get away.

"Cursed gargoyles," Lucius growled and took to the air.

"There he goes!" Octavia shouted as she spotted Lucius take off from a roof a few blocks away and begin gliding in a westward direction.

Griff looked where the Roman female was pointing and easily spotted the African Wild Dog mutate. He was indeed headed away from them and alone. Griff hoped that capturing him would stabilize the situation in London to allow them to deal with whatever problems that would arise that required Arthur's attention.

"Chloe, Julia, try to get above him and move as though to head him off," Griff instructed, "Octavia and I will chase after him directly. Hopefully, he'll focus on us too much to notice you."

Chloe and Julia nodded and quickly banked up and away to move after Lucius. Griff quickly lead the direct chase while the other two gargoyles moved to gain height.

"You're not going to be running all these RAF tactics when the breeder's moon rises, are you?" Octavia asked with somewhat teasing tone in her voice.

That made Griff blink with some surprise. Now, he and the Roman female had been growing close, but there were plenty of things he didn't get. It was his first experience at dating since he and Leo had tried to win Una's heart in the thirties, and he had found that things had obviously changed. The changes embarrassed him slightly, but he was thankful that Octavia was trying to take things slow and that the Roman female in some ways reminded him of Una, although he was determined to never tell either of them that.

"You know that is something completely different from the present situation," Griff said nervously.

"I know," Octavia replied, "But you do have a habit of referring to basic 'dog-fighting' tactics when we are in pursuit of something or someone."

"It's all that I know," Griff answered back, "the Blitz and all."

Octavia nodded, "I know. I could resist one small joke, though."

"Let's keep on the task at hand," Griff said firmly.

The two of them then pushed hard to chase after Lucius. The fleeing mutate fired a series of electric blasts at them as they got closer and forcing Griff and Octavia to dive away to avoid being hit. Lucius then made a quick turn and glided up another alley. As they resumed the chase they saw that Chloe and Julia were moving into position.

Julia and Chloe watched carefully as Griff and Octavia chased after Lucius. The mutate was trying to swerve in and out between buildings, but they had moved high enough to be above the pursuit. As Griff had earlier assumed, Lucius didn't entirely notice them. As Lucius crossed a road and began to glide over a small park, Chloe moved into steep dive, hoping to tackle Lucius before he could get amongst buildings again.

The attack was successful and Julia watched as the two disappeared through the canopy of trees in the park, smashing branches as they went. Octavia and Griff arrived shortly after.

"Chloe's taken him the ground in the park," Julia reported as the other two joined her in diving toward the ground, "I think we have him."

"Let's hope she keeps him busy long enough for the rest of us to catch up," Griff said firmly.

The landing was rather rough on both Chloe and Lucius. The female gargoyle could feel several small scrapes on the inside of her wings and could see the bruises already forming on her opponent.

"Give up!" Chloe growled, "you can't win."

"I'll show you who can't win," Lucius growled defiantly and pulled his feet up under Chloe's stomach.

Lucius then kicked hard, throwing Chloe off of him. The others only began to arrive as he did so, and the kick actually threw Chloe into Griff. Lucius was then quick to his feet and fired an electric blast that forced Julia and Octavia stop and land in front of him.

"I'll show you who can't win!" Lucius roared again and firing another barrage of electric blasts.

These forced Octavia and Julia back as Griff and Chloe scrambled to get back. Lucius continued to look forward with a determined growl.

"It is you and your foolish support for a foolish system that removes order from the world," Lucius growled, "and I will not rest until I've righted the ship!"

"You're a fool," Griff growled, "this isn't the first century."

"And you aren't Roman," Julia added, "the only people who could claim real 'Roman' ancestry are Arthur and Merlin."

Lucius roared with rage and lunged forward, firing electric blasts as he did. One blast hit Chloe and knocked her down, and forced the others to dodge the blasts as he charged forward. As he got closer he threw a punch a Griff that drove him back and landed two electric blasts a point blank range on Octavia and Julia. This sent both of them flying into a tree.

"I'm at least willing to fight for a better system," Lucius growled.

"Better, how?" Octavia questioned, "Neither the Roman Republic nor the Roman Empire were democracies, which humans today hold as the best form of government, and on top of this, it has been humanity's experience that when nations are lead by people like yourself, problems inevitably follow."

Lucius swung a leg out, trying to take the Roman female's legs out from under her, but Octavia dodged the attack easily. This also left Lucius distracted, and Griff clubbed the mutate on his upper back with both fists, knocking Lucius to the ground. Lucius tried to fire an electric blast at the English gargoyle, but Julia kicked him in the shoulder making his shot go wide.

"On top of this, there are four of us and only one you," Griff finished as Octavia and Chloe recovered and moved to help him and Julia surround Lucius.

Lucius refused to give in and fired electric blasts at Griff and Octavia, and then moved to try and escape again, realizing that he would be knocked out if he continued to force the battle against four opponents. He barely made it a few steps before he was tackled to the ground by Chloe.

"You won't be getting away that easily," Chloe growled as she wrestled Lucius into a position where he could not get away or fire an electric blast at her, "will you give in now?"

Lucius responded by electrifying his entire body, making Chloe scream with pain and release the African wild dog mutate. He began to try to run again as soon as he was free, but again Lucius did not get far. He made only a few steps before Octavia landed a flying kick against the back of his knees, which took him to the ground. The Roman female then backhanded Lucius before he could turn, knocking him out and to the ground.

"Thanks," Chloe spoke as Octavia helped her up.

"It is no trouble," Octavia replied, "I suppose we'd best get him back to the mansion."

"I'll carry him back," Griff volunteered, "I'll let you finish the patrol or go help Leo."

"We'll finish the patrol," Julia spoke, "Leo said he did need anymore help. Will you need any help, though?"

"I shouldn't," Griff answered, "At least I shouldn't have any trouble getting him to the mansion."

"I'll go with you," Octavia told him, "Just in case he wakes up."

"Do we have any way of restraining him?" Chloe asked, "I'm pretty sure that Merlin had enchanted the 'cell' we have the werewolf that bit Rachel in."

"We might," Griff commented, "I'm not quite sure. Perhaps we could throw him in with the werewolf."

"Sure," Octavia sighed while shaking her head and suppressing a slight grin.

**Elsewhere**

Agent Anglo sat quietly in a new office set up for him. The Illuminati had done their best to insure his safety after Arthur and his allies trashed his old office. It was still in the same building, but was now in a different part of the building and had no exterior windows. He heard a knock at his door while he shuffled some papers on his desk.

It was Jeremy Irons that entered the room.

"So, how did you're mission go?" Anglo asked as Irons stepped into the office.

"They didn't spot me this time, so I guess better," Irons answered, "If that is what you mean."

"No, I was referring to our situation with Lucius," Anglo answered firmly, trying to sound authoritative.

"Operation Clean House was successful," Irons reported with a confident smile, "he finally got the attention of the gargoyles with his little scheme. He put up a decent fight, but not a winning one and they eventually carried him off."

"Good," Anglo smiled, "That will give our section of the Illuminati an effective weapon to deal with the London gargoyles, and with Lucius now safely in their care, the weapon is now completely under our control."

"And how will these mutates help us?" Irons asked, "Didn't Lucius recruit them?"

"He did, but mostly on the promise of either revenge or power, and even then, in a very general sense," Anglo explained, "His 'followers' have little real interest in his dream of recreating the Roman Empire. They are tools to be used, and even if Arthur has no connection to the uprising in Tibet, we must assemble forces to fight him here."

"So, how do we explain to Lucius's followers that they now follow us?" Irons asked.

"I'd say that the normal tactics will work," Anglo responded, "Lie and promise them that we will 'continue' Lucius's deal, which we can do much more effectively anyway in the first place."

"Do we send them after the clan, sir?" Irons asked.

"Not yet," Anglo answered, "The Council wants us to wait until after Arthur's little journey ends, no matter how long it is."

**The Mansion**

The mansion in fact did not have any door or lock that would hold Lucius for long. Merlin had in fact upgraded the room that served as a cell for the Illuminati werewolf that they had earlier captured. Thankfully, Arthur had been able to legally obtain several authentic handcuffs, in case he was hired to track down the a real criminal, not likely, but still possible.

"Do you think they'll hold?" Octavia asked as Griff began placing them on Lucius.

"I hope so," Griff sighed, "I really don't know what else we can do. Perhaps we could call Mr. Burnett in New York to come and secure everything that is needed to make sure that he can't get out, but we can't do any more then what we've done already."

"And even with his help, it would take a while for him to get here," Octavia added.

Griff nodded, "I guess that's the problem with this guy. He's more of an annoyance as far as the big picture is concerned and we can deal with him easily while we're awake, but we have no idea if we can keep him here."

"I'll see to it that he stays here," came Macbeth's voice from the other end of the hallway, "Do not worry about that, although I would agree that it would be wise to contact Mr. Burnett."

"How did you..?" Griff asked in surprise.

"It's very difficult to hear you dragging something or someone through the mansion and not notice," Macbeth answered.

"We thank you for your help," Octavia spoke.

"It's no real trouble," Macbeth answered and looked down on Lucius, "He didn't give you any real trouble did he?"

"Well, he was determined to fight, but it was nothing that we couldn't handle," Griff answered, "Although, our real problems with him are just beginning."

"We can handle them a lot easier then the problems that would have arouse if he was left free long enough to become a real problem," Macbeth answered, "We've thankfully stopped him while he was still only an annoyance."

"Thankfully," Griff commented, "Was there any word from Arthur?"

"Not while you were out," Macbeth answered, "but hopefully he returns soon."

**The End…**


	23. The Last Place One Looks

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Annoyances".

The Last Place One Looks

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Pond**

The small boat came out of the mist to find themselves alone on what appeared to be a very small pond. There was no grass surrounding the pond, but Arthur did notice some sort of desert shrubbery around the banks of the pond. The landscape beyond the pond also looked fairly desolate. The stars above them, however, were easily seen as the night was cloudless.

"Where do you suppose we are?" Una asked, looking around and seeing nothing but the brush and dirt around the pond that they were in.

"Desert of some kind," Rachel grumbled, "one some sort of man made pond… or oasis… or something like that. We can't do any more then guess as to which desert we're in."

The others nodded as they rowed toward the shoreline and once on dry land, Arthur moved to see if he could get a better look at the territory. He soon saw an expanse of sand and desert rock. That more then proved they were in a desert of some sort. The ground was largely fairly flat and there was a fair breeze blowing. From the direction that he was looking in, Arthur could not see if there was any sign of civilization for miles.

"Wish there was some way to figure out exactly where we are," Merlin commented as he came to stand by Arthur.

They were then interrupted by the sound of a man in the distance from the other side of the pond. They immediately glanced to Una, who was now rushing in search of some sort of cover, although it was unlikely she could completely hide herself. They then turned to Rachel and then slowly walked toward the other side of the pond.

"Does either of you have a logical explanation as to how we got here?" Rachel asked as they got closer, "this guy could own the land."

"The only one he'd believe is that we are adventurers who have walked all this way," Arthur sighed, "and I don't think that even that is entirely error proof."

"We'll just have to deal with it," Merlin sighed, "He probably won't believe the truth."

When they reached the other side of the pond, they found a man in robes walking along a small path. For the moment, he did not seem to notice them.

"Mahdi!" the man called out as he held up one hand as if to call for someone.

The man continued on for a few moments before he finally noticed Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel standing in front of him. He was visibly startled and jumped back nervously.

"You!" the man spoke firmly, "What have you done with my Mahdi?"

"Excuse me, but who is 'Mahdi'?" Arthur asked.

"My son, you fool!" the growled, "the one you kidnapped!"

"We haven't kidnapped anyone," Merlin spoke firmly, "we've only just arrived here."

"We might be able to help you find your son," Rachel offered.

"You would?" the man asked, "You would help me find my Mahdi?"

Arthur nodded, "Yes. In England, I run a private investigation agency. Missing persons reports aren't the thing I deal with most often, but a lot of the work is the same."

"England?" the man asked confused, "Where is England?"

"A long way from here," Merlin answered, "Speaking of which, could you tell us where here is?"

The man looked at them with a fairly puzzled look before he eventually answered.

"You at one of the small oasis's that my family brings its herds to," the man answered after a few moments, "we are about two days journey from Riyadh."

"Saudi Arabia," Rachel commented, "It hasn't been too hot lately, has it?"

The man then looked the group over. The two men were in attire that was strange to him, and the woman was in clothing fairly similar to the men's clothing.

"You are all strangely dressed," the man answered, "but I will assume that is the culture of England. And I will owe you greatly if you are able to help me find Mahdi."

Arthur nodded, "When and where did you last see him?"

"I last saw him two days ago at our camp," the man answered, "he was herding some of our goats. I went to go check on our camels, when I heard him scream, and then nothing."

"Nothing?" Rachel asked, "weren't there any tracks you could follow? Or a scent you could use dogs to track with?"

"I own no dogs and strangely, there were no tracks," the man answered, "Mahdi was just gone. Even one of the goats was missing, but that is unimportant compared to my son."

"How could your son just disappear?" Arthur asked, "He couldn't have been carried off by something."

"I do not know, I…" the man continued and stopped when he saw something move through the shrubs on the other end of the pond.

He then noticed a fairly small boat floating in the pond's shallows. He then began to walk toward the source of the movement.

"Mahdi?" the man asked toward it, hoping it was his son.

Arthur and Rachel tried to get his attention back, but failed as the man continued to approach that spot, not knowing that the figure hiding there was a female gargoyle and not his son. As he got closer, he quickly found that out.

"Ahhhh! A demon!" the man screamed and stumbled back, "A demon come to eat us! It's probably already eaten Mahdi!"

Una, seeing that she had been spotted, decided to slowly come out of hiding.

"Easy," Una spoke, trying to sound as soothing as possible, "I won't hurt you."

The man continued to crawl away backwards, clearly terrified.

"This is Una," Arthur spoke, "She is a friend of ours. She speaks the truth when she says she won't harm you."

This further puzzled the man even more.

"You know this demon?" the man asked.

"She's a gargoyle, not a demon," Merlin corrected.

This puzzled the man even more, but something seemed to visibly click in his mind.

"We'd best return to my camp," the man said, making no effort to hide any sign of frustration, "Something tells me there is more to you then meets the eye."

**Unknown Location**

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, given the troubles in Tibet, but I felt you should see this," a man in what looked like a red military uniform spoke as he walked down a hallway with a more mysterious man walking behind him.

"Pendragon may not be directly linked to Khan's traitorous activities, but he is still a threat in the Council's eyes," Six spoke, "Particularly if he is able to fulfill the prophecies concerning Britain's Greatest Hour of Need."

"Maybe so, but as far as I know, we do not know when that time will come," the other man reported, "and we know that Khan has betrayed us and is causing trouble now."

"We must always be prepared," Six told him, "besides, if we require more information about the Mage's prophecies, we can always check our 'sources'."

They then arrived in a small monitoring room and the soldier led Six to a panel where a lone technician was following something on a small screen. It showed the image of Arthur, Merlin, Rachel, Una, and a strange man walking along a desert trail.

"We are they?" Six asked.

"According to the larger satellite images," the technician spoke, "they appeared in an oasis south of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The man they're with, I'd assume is a Bedouin tribesman."

The technician then brought up a map of the Arab country and highlighted the exact location of where Pendragon and his group appeared. Six looked and then frowned nervously.

"They're near one of our dry storage facilities," Six growled, "Who do we have guarding it?"

The technician then pressed a series of buttons and the image of a figure then appeared on the screen.

"It appears to be Jeanie, sir," the technician answered.

"Contact her, and let her know that she is likely to have company," Six commanded the soldier.

"Of course," the soldier responded.

**Saudi Arabia**

The man they had met lead them all back to his camp quietly and as quickly as possible. He did his best to insure that Una was not spotted by any of the other people there, and his actions puzzled the travelers greatly. He was originally terrified utterly of Una when he first spotted her, but now he seemed more suspicious, especially since they had insisted that Una was a gargoyle and not a demon.

The tent he had lead them into was very basic, and most of the things inside it were necessary for sleeping, eating, and the other basic necessities of living. He then gestured for them to sit in the center of the tent and began pacing.

"I do not want to be thought of as foolish because I am concerned about my son," the man began, "but there is something not right about you, and I do not mean the woman's inappropriate attire."

Rachel ignored the comment.

"I promise you, I mean no harm," Una spoke, "and like the others, I would be willing to help you find your son."

"You had better, for you will not leave this desert alive if you do not," the man answered, "It is nothing personal, but I have lived here all my life, and never before has something happened like what has just happened."

"Kidnappings happen all the time," Arthur commented.

"Not the kidnapping of my Mahdi," the man answered, "the appearance of infidels in the middle of an oasis with a winged one."

This created a series puzzled looks from Arthur and the others.

"You say you are a gargoyle," the man spoke to Una.

Una nodded.

"I have heard stories of your kind," the man answered, "that your kind fought along side the Greeks against the warriors of the Prophet, and that some even fought against the Prophet directly."

"My clan has always been around London," Una answered, "None of us have ever been to the middle east before now."

"And just how is it that you all arrived on an oasis on my family's land?" the man asked, "And why do you volunteer to help me? It is strange for such things to happen, even among my own people."

"We are traveling by means of magical mists created by an island known as Avalon," Merlin answered, "largely to gain knowledge and material necessary to help someone."

"You play with sorcery?" the man asked, his suspicions still obvious, "you know that Allah is against such things."

"Magic and the application of it is not necessarily bad," Merlin answered, "and if you study things closely, sir, you will find that there are things out there that may seem dark and frightening, but aren't evil."

"You people probably ran into a series of evil sorcerers in your history, men who misused their powers to oppress others," Arthur commented, "not every 'sorcerer' is like that."

"My people have learned it is best to avoid such things," the man answered.

"Our purpose is to do good," Merlin answered, "Especially since there are things that go on in this world that are far larger then what you know or think."

"And I'm to assume that this 'Avalon' place sent you here to help me find my Mahdi?" the man asked.

"We would think so, although the reasons why Avalon's magic will send travelers somewhere, is usually kept a secret, even from them," Una explained.

"But you have agreed to help find my son?" the man enquired.

"We will," Arthur nodded, "but you will have to trust us, even if we seem strange to you."

"Is there anything else that is strange about your group that you would like to disclose?" the man asked, "it would be preferable that you did reveal such information."

Arthur and Rachel traded glances for a moment before the woman sighed and stood up.

"For the sake of being honest," Rachel sighed, "I am a werewolf… it's a sort of condition that I have. I can change into a humanoid wolf creature at will and must on the nights of the full moon."

The man looked fearful.

"And you won't attack me or my family here in the camp?" the man asked, fearfully.

"No," Rachel answered, "I'm in complete control of myself whenever I change… and I've found that I've gained some abilities that might help. I can track your son's scent, so… I guess… with me here, you don't need a dog."

The man looked on nervously but eventually nodded as he regained his composure.

"Well, now that you have asked questions of us, may we ask you a question, sir?" Merlin asked.

The man slowly nodded after a moment.

"Who are you?" Merlin asked.

"I am Ali Al-Sahoud," the man answered, "and I trust you will not cause trouble?"

"We're here to help," Arthur answered firmly.

**Elsewhere**

A young boy sat alone in what looked like high security prison cell, staring out with a tremendous amount of fear in his eyes. A figure moved a short distance away outside the cell, but the lighting was just low enough that he couldn't see exactly who it was. The figure also appeared to be conversing with someone she referred to as 'Six'.

"So they come here to me," the figure spoke, "They will be defeated easily."

"Do not go hunting after them," Six answered, "Merlin may be powerless, but the female gargoyle is stronger then you would think, and the female were will not be easily subdued. You are only to engage them if they somehow stumble onto the 'library'."

"Speaking of which, what should I do with the boy who stumbled onto the 'library'?" the figure asked, "His goat was fairly good, but I do not eat humans."

"As well you should," Six answered, "but the boy's fate is not our concern. You may do with him as you wish."

The figure turned to look at the boy with a mischievous smile, even though the boy couldn't see it. The boy did know that the figure had turned toward him and shuffled toward the back of the cell.

**Al-Sahoud's Camp**

Ali lead Arthur and Rachel to the spot where he knew that his son, Mahdi, had been last. Merlin and Una had moved to the outskirts of the camp so that no one else in Ali's camp would see them, but they were close enough that Rachel could tell where they were.

"This is the area where Mahdi was last," Ali spoke gesturing to the makeshift corral made out of the same material as the tents and held up with a few scattered pieces of wood, "can you track him from here?"

Rachel slowly nodded, "If you give me something that has his scent on it. Otherwise, it could take a while to discern which scent is his and which is not."

Ali turned and pointed to a small Shepard's crook leaning against the thick cloth wall.

"He was carrying that when he disappeared," Ali answered.

"Thank you," Rachel answered, and took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Ali watched while Arthur moved to stand beside him. He jumped when he saw Rachel's eyes again and would have fallen over if Arthur hadn't caught him. The woman's eyes had changed to a feral yellow color, but there were no other visible changes.

"It's alright," Arthur told him, "she won't change all the way unless it's necessary."

The watched for a few moments while Rachel approached the Shepard's crook and sniffed at it. She then turned toward the horizon to the south of their position and her eyes narrowed on the horizon.

"He appeared to have wandered off in that direction," Rachel reported, "I think he was trying to follow an animal that got loose."

Rachel then began walking forward, sniffing as she went. Arthur and Ali were quick to follow.

"How long will it take to find Mahdi?" Ali asked.

"That depends on how far he's gone," Rachel answered, "If he's still moving, it will depend on how fast we are moving in relation to him. If he is in a singular location, it will depend on how far he went before he got there."

The search went fairly quietly. Merlin and Una rejoined the group once they were safely beyond the borders of the camp. After a few moments of following the track of Madhi's scent, Rachel came to a sudden and complete stop. She then turned around and took a step or two back.

"What is it?" Ali asked, sounding nervous.

"The trail stops here," Rachel answered.

"Any sign of a vehicle?" Arthur asked.

Rachel shook her head, "Not by scent. The trail simply ends here. We must have followed a wrong trail or something. If the trail ended here, we should be able to see the boy."

Below them, the figure looked nervously at the screens that were shown. The figure was incredibly nervous as it showed that the man with the female were and Arthur was dangerously close to tripping a hidden trap door entrance, the same one that the boy had earlier tripped. The orders received were to defend the 'library', and now the 'enemy' was extremely close to falling into it.

Ali looked down at the ground in a very depressed manner. It was a dark night, with only the moon and stars providing illumination on the desert. And now, his only hope for finding his son had admitted that she couldn't find him. He had barely taken a step back towards his camp when the ground suddenly began to shake.

"What the?!" Arthur gasped as the ground began to shake around them.

Suddenly the dirt below them began to lower and slide away, making Arthur, Ali, and Rachel drop straight down into what looked like a metal entryway. Una and Merlin quickly rushed to the opening.

"Are you alright?" Merlin called down.

"Wonderful," Ali grumbled.

"How could there be a bunker in the middle of a desert?" Arthur asked, sounding curious.

Rachel took a few sniffs and became quickly alert.

"We may find out," Rachel reported, "I've picked up Mahdi's scent again, and he wasn't alone."

"You mean the kidnapper is still here?" Una asked as she hopped down with Merlin.

"I'm beginning to think he wasn't kidnapped," Rachel commented, "I never detected the other scent before now. It is quite possible that there was some sort of trigger for the trap door, and that Madhi in pursuit of the escaped animal tripped that trigger by accident, much like what we probably did."

"So, whoever has them was only 'defending' themselves?" Arthur asked.

"More like hiding something, I'd think," Merlin commented, "Why else would one have a bunker in the middle of no where."

They then began walking down the hallway, slowly and carefully. After a few moments of quiet walking, they were blinded by a bright light and knocked to the ground by a force field.

"What is that?" Ali demanded.

"A force field of some kind," Merlin answered, "Probably designed to keep us out of someplace."

"A very intelligent answer for a powerless fool," came a taunting voice from the other side of where the field was, "sadly, it will be hours before it's fully charged again."

"You kidnapped my son!" Ali accused the figure moving slowly toward them.

"I didn't kidnap anyone," the figure answered, "I caught a boy who was trespassing on ground he shouldn't have been on, but I have not kidnapped anyone."

"If you've harmed him…" Ali growled.

"You'll what?" the figure spoke while coming into view, "hack at me with a sword that could never hurt my kind even in the middle ages?"

What they saw was a shock to all of them. It was clearly a woman in practically the skimpiest clothing any of them had seen. She was wearing a strapless western style bra and underwear. Over that she wore a pair of 'pants' that were completely see through, other then their pink tint and tank top of the same material.

"I am Jeanie," the woman said, "Guardian of this facility."

"And we're to be afraid of a woman with no sense of modesty or her place!" Ali growled and shook his fist at her.

Jeanie raised a hand and Ali suddenly went flying backward, hitting it hard.

"Yes," Jeanie answered, "For I am not a 'woman'."

"A fey, perhaps," Rachel growled, her voice edged by the fact that she was quickly trying to transform, as she stripped down to her jumpsuit, which she wore under her normal clothes.

"In a manner of speaking," Jeanie answered as she turned her hand to Rachel, making the still transforming werewolf fly backward into Ali.

Arthur readied Excalibur while Una prepared to defend herself as best she could.

"If you're not a fey, then you must be at least a most a halfling," Merlin spoke as he readied the ring he was presently using as a conduit.

Jeanie then raised both hands and sent all three of those still standing flying backward. Rachel barely managed to catch Arthur, but couldn't hold him up, as she was still enduring her own transformation.

"You okay?" Rachel managed to ask as she felt her tail push out behind her.

"I'd be doing a lot better if this 'thing' would give us an honest answer," Arthur commented as he got back to his feet.

"Straight answers?" Jeanie taunted, as she moved her arms, making Arthur fly about the hallway, hitting the walls several times, "what do you think I am, stupid?"

Una lunged forward while Jeanie was distracted and managed to land a strong punch one the 'woman'. The blow knocked Jeanie back against the far wall. Merlin was about to add a small restraining spell through his ring, when suddenly Ali appeared in front of him, holding a knife that he had produced. He brought the knife down on Jeanie's shoulder as she was still getting up.

"Where is my son?!" Ali demanded, "Tell me and I might let you live!"

Jeanie brought up a hand, and Ali was thrown off, but his knife remained imbedded in Jeanie's shoulder. The woman screamed with pain and writhed on the floor. Blasts of magic flew from her hands as she suddenly began to age.

"A fey, or a fey halfing," Merlin commented, "Just as suspected."

After a few moments, Jeanie suddenly exploded in a blaze of light leaving only Ali's knife behind. That left everyone astounded.

"Has that ever happened before?" Rachel ask as she moved closer, and staying in her wolf form.

"Not that I can ever recall," Merlin answered, "Most fey age and grow weak as a result of contact with Iron. She looked like it was an overload."

"My knife is made of steal," Ali spoke.

"She may only be pretending to be dead then," Una commented.

"At least she's gone," Rachel spoke, "Let's keep going. I still have Mahdi's scent."

"Stay alert, though," Arthur warned as they began walking again, "if she's only pretending to be dead, she could attack again."

They went along the hallway following the scent of the missing boy. As they did, they entered a massive room filled with scrolls and books, which everyone found to be a great surprise.

"It's a library!" Merlin exclaimed.

"Why would one put a library underground?" Ali grumbled.

"Probably to preserve the pages," Rachel commented, "I saw something on TV about dry conditions being excellent for preserving things like paper."

"What do you suppose is in these scrolls?" Una commented and reached for one of them.

The unicorn like gargoyle picked up the scroll and gasped at the seal that held it shut, the insignia of the Illuminati.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, curious at Una's surprise.

"This bunker/library is run by the Illuminati," Una answered, holding up the seal, "these volumes likely hold information of great importance to them."

"Perhaps they have information on the type of powder needed to get Merlin his powers back," Arthur commented.

"It's a possibility," Una nodded.

"What about my son?!" Ali demanded, the library not among his list of concerns, shocking as its discovery was.

"While Merlin and Una look through what we've found, the rest of us will keep following the boy's scent," Arthur answered the man, "We'll find him, I assure you."

Arthur and Ali then set about following Rachel as she continued to sniff out the scent trail of the boy they were searching for. The path took them to the end of the library and to a large set of doors. They were locked, but they didn't last long against Rachel's strength and the female werewolf easily knocked both doors in. On the other side of the doors was what appeared to be a control room. The room appeared empty, but a jail cell was easily visible.

"He's not here," Ali said in a defeated voice.

Rachel continued following the scent until she was lead to what looked like an oil lamp sitting on a shelf. She looked at it with some confusion.

"His scent leads here," Rachel spoke, "that can't be a person…"

"They cremated him!" Ali exclaimed in fear and anger and grabbed the lamp.

As Ali's fingers rubbed over the lamp, the lamp suddenly began to smoke, and after a blinding flash of light, a young boy appeared.

"Mahdi?!" Ali gasped and then fainted from shock.

The boy's eyes with a surprising degree of understanding and looked upon a strange man, brandishing a broadsword, and a female werewolf standing over his father. Previous fear returning to him, he raised has hands.

"Leave him alone," the boy commanded, sending both Arthur and Rachel flying backward.

"Can you explain this?" Rachel asked as she and Arthur began to pull themselves up.

"No," Arthur sighed to her and then turned to the boy, "we mean you no harm."

"Leave him alone!" the boy commanded again.

"We came here with him, looking for his son," Rachel spoke, "If you're Mahdi, we've been looking for you."

"I am he," the boy answered, "You won't harm my father?"

"No," Arthur answered, "he is at the moment an ally of ours."

"Could you tell us what has happened to you?" Rachel asked, "Why were you in that lamp?"

Mahdi looked down at the lamp that he had appeared from and then at another oil lamp sitting on the table.

"It was the guardian of this facility," Mahdi answered in a weak and ashamed tone, "she is what you westerners call a genie. In our culture they are djinn."

"A fey, then," Arthur commented, "but then, how did you gain its powers. Despite all their power, no fey can turn a human or gargoyle into a fey."

"They are not fey," Mahdi answered, "they are more connected to the demonic versus the divine then they are to the mortal realm, the way humans, gargoyles, and the third race are."

"They're demons?" Rachel asked, sounding nervous.

"Some are, and the one who imprisoned me, the one who guarded this facility was one," Mahdi answered and then turned to the other lamp, "and now, she is dead."

He snapped his fingers and the lamp suddenly burst into flame and melted away. Rachel could just barely hear screams as the lamp melted and disappeared.

"How, why did she do this to you?" Arthur asked, surprised that the boy was so calm with everything.

"She took me and placed me over the lamp," Mahdi slowly began to explain, "and lit a small fire on it, not using her powers. Then she slit her wrist with a finger and made me drink her blood… then the smoke from the fire sucked me into the lamp. She essentially placed her essence in me. I am weaker then she was, but I don't really care. I don't want to be like this."

"No one ever does," Rachel tried to comfort him, "I didn't want to be like this when I was bitten."

"But we can not escape our fates, can we?" Mahdi asked back.

Rachel slowly nodded.

"What do you intend to do then?" Arthur asked.

"I hope to stay with my father," Mahdi answered, "like many djinn I am tied to the lamp and essence I am bonded to. I was hoping he could keep it safe, at least until I can prove my faith and either journey to heaven or break the curse that has been put on me."

"And you won't abuse the powers you have?" Arthur asked.

"I am weaker then the guardian of this facility, and she wasn't all that powerful for a djinn," Mahdi answered, "moving objects and what would be considered small pranks are about all I can do."

"I see," Arthur sighed, "Rachel and I will help carry your father until he revives. Will you be alright?"

"I will be fine, in time," Mahdi answered.

They nodded and slowly began to make their way out.

**Hours Later**

While Rachel stayed with Mahdi outside the Illuminati bunker while he tried to explain to his father what had happened to him, Arthur returned to Merlin and Una. He hoped they had found something that would help them.

"Did you find anything?" Arthur asked.

"The Illuminati has stored thousands of articles and spells here," Una reported, "and some which we think might be written prophecies."

"Some we'll be taking with us," Merlin answered, "for later study, but the only thing we need is some description on either the spell used on me, or the ingredients for the counter spell."

"Most of the information however will take time to translate," Una sighed, "We'll be taking everything that we clearly recognize as a help to us."

Arthur could only nod, "We'd best move quickly, though. Dawn can't be too far off, and the Illuminati must surely know by now that Jeanie was defeated."

Carrying out the 'looting' of the Illuminati library/bunker took right up until dawn. Both Mahdi and Rachel were needed to lift Una's stone form out of the bunker, which left Rachel feeling slightly agitated. The air temperature was already getting hot, and her fur held body heat in rather easily. She was sure to be thoroughly baked by the time they got back to their boat at the oasis. Arthur and Merlin weren't too keen on hiking through a desert during the day either, but they had no real choice.

"We wish you the best of luck," Arthur spoke to Ali as he and his son prepared to return to his camp.

"And to you," Ali answered, "May you never fall into the failings of those who do evil."

"We'll try not to," Arthur answered.

"Do you need help?" Mahdi asked, "You certainly aren't dressed for this climate, and your werewolf will likely overheat under her fur."

"That would be helpful," Rachel spoke, "but I'd think we've already given your father a rough time by being so… different. We wouldn't want to cause any trouble."

"As much as I do not want to admit to debt to outsiders, I am in your debt," Ali answered, "If you need help getting the gargoyle back to your boat, I will consent to it, but Mahdi must return home afterwards."

"Of course," Arthur answered, "and thank you."

Mahdi then used his new powers to lift Una up, allowing Rachel to change back to her human form and put her normal clothing back on. They then began walking back toward the oasis that Arthur and his group had appeared on. Arthur and Merlin silently wondered how Ali and his son seemed to be adjusting so easily to everything that had happened, but they were silent on the issue, as they didn't want to cause any real problem.

**The Oasis**

Avalon's mists quickly engulfed Arthur's boat as soon as Una's statue had settled into it, and they were soon traveling off into Avalon's mists. Ali and Mahdi watched from the shore until the boat vanished from sight.

"I hope they do well," Rachel commented after a few moments.

"I'd think they will," Merlin answered, "there are many things that we don't know and don't have the time to learn."

"Like why Ali didn't seem to have many troubles with what had happened to his son, or why his son seemed almost unconcerned with what had happened to him?" Arthur asked.

"Or why he seemed to quickly gain his wits after meeting us?" Rachel added.

Merlin nodded, "for all we know, Ali is himself involved in much the same work that we do in England in Saudi Arabia. And my knowledge of their myths and legends are just lacking enough that I can't say much more."

"Hopefully things turn out well," Arthur sighed as the mist began to thicken around them.

**The End…**


	24. Deciphering Clues

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "The Last Place One Looks".

Deciphering Clues

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**The Skiff**

"Do you think the scrolls and stuff that we 'liberated' will help?" Rachel asked as they floated through Avalon's mists on the way to wherever they would be sent to next, "I mean, I can't make heads or tails of any of it."

"It will take a practicing sorcerer to decode them," Merlin sighed as he set one scroll down, "Some of these scrolls hold spells, which won't help us. Some hold prophecies which could help us, and one or two hold reference material that might help us. The problem is that most of these are in languages older then Latin or the Celtic languages of the people of Britain during the its time as a Roman province, and there are a few that are also in modern Arabic, which I'd need magic to interoperate easily, which for the time being will mean Una."

Rachel then leaned back against Una's kneeling stone form as they moved through the water. She sighed as she did so, knowing that the journey hadn't done much to help them fix the goals that they had set out to achieve so far. While they had learned that a magical powder and a the correct incantation might reverse Merlin's situation, but they still needed to either find the powder, or find out what the powder was made out of. And so far, they had failed to do that. They had also managed so far to insure that the Illuminati would remain on their tail, and it was only the 'randomness' of traveling through Avalon's mists that kept them ahead of their 'pursuers'.

"I hope they help," Rachel said after a few minutes, "We haven't had much luck up to this point."

"I'm sure they'll help in some way," Arthur spoke, "possibly not in the way we expect them to, but who knows, all we need is a library or something like that to study the scrolls."

"It'd need to be one that isn't controlled by agents of the Illuminati," Merlin cautioned, "I'd almost prefer a more secretive location."

It was then that the mists began to clear and they found themselves on a river floating through a what appeared to be a fairly large city. The city was clearly European, and judging by what they could see, Merlin guessed that the architecture was Germanic in nature.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked as they kept floating down what was a fairly wide river.

"I'd assume somewhere in Central Europe," Merlin answered, "given the architecture of the buildings, either Germany or Austria."

Then as they continued to float down the river, Rachel managed to spot a lone flagpole just barely standing above the buildings near them. On it was a flag, of which she could only see the top part of the flag. It was made up of a red bar and what looked like a white bar underneath it. The rest of the flag was blocked by the buildings.

"I think we're in Austria," Rachel commented after seeing the flag.

"Then this should be the Danube," Merlin nodded, "I don't know of any other rivers in Austria as wide as this."

"We'd best find a place to dock the skiff," Arthur then nodded, "I doubt Una will want to awaken in it while we're on a fairly major river way."

They ended up pulling in near a small river dock under a bridge on the river, and Rachel and Arthur worked to move Una's statue onto the landing while Merlin tried to tie the skiff to a nearby post.

"So what do we do now?" Rachel asked.

"I suggest we wait until sunset," Merlin sighed, "that way Una can move with us. Right now, if we leave her, she is likely to be endangered."

Arthur and Rachel then sighed and nodded. They then all sat down to wait for dusk.

**Elsewhere**

A lone man sat quietly in a darkened room staring intently at a silver plate with a map of the city engraved into it. Along the edge of the plate were silver magnets placed along the edge that resembled the head of a wolf. A small glowing sphere ran along that edge where the end of the wolf magnets met the map of the city. He sat patiently watching it for a few moments before the sphere started moving into the map part of the plate. The magnets also began to move around the edge of the plate.

The man then studied it intently as though he had great interest in the results of the moving sphere as it began to spiral around the map of the city before finally settling down at a spot along the river. This made the man smile.

"Finally," the man smiled, "One has come into the city and has stopped long enough to be detected. Time is short though."

He then turned to a phone that sat nearby and dialed a number.

"Yes?" a rough voice answered on the other line.

"One has come into the city," the man answered, "Gather everyone together we will need to move fast if we are to capture it before the moon is at its height."

You're certain it won't leave the city by nightfall?" the voice on the other end of the line asked, "It could only be moving through."

"My tracker wouldn't have picked it up if it was only moving through," the man answered roughly, and sounding frustrated that the man he had called was arguing with him, "If it was just passing through, my tracker would not have detected it. Now get everyone together. Our plans will advance forward tonight."

"Very well," the voice answered, "We'll be at your sanctum at dusk."

"Good," the man answered and hung up.

He then turned back to his 'plate'.

"Soon, everything I've planned for will be mine," the man said with a smile.

**Danube Riverbank**

The day went by rather slowly for Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel. They did manage to read through one or two scrolls that they had found that were written in Latin or English, but they contained nothing more then some basic spells that might be helpful to them should they get into a fight, but revealed nothing about what they were searching for. After awhile Merlin ventured up to the streets to see if he could procure some food to save their rations and get a better clue as to where they were. When he returned, he confirmed that they were in fact in Austria, and specifically Vienna.

"Have you ever been in Vienna before?" Arthur asked to Merlin, hoping his mentor had some experience with the city.

"At the end of the Napoleonic wars as a minor secretary," Merlin answered, "I doubt that would be enough to understand the Vienna of today. And our reasons for being here may not necessarily involve something in the city."

"I'd think we'd come out closer to where we're needed," Rachel commented, "I mean, didn't you say something about the skiff appearing in any body of water?"

"It can, but that doesn't guarantee you will emerge in the closest body of water," Merlin answered, "If someone was using the closest body of water, the mists would take us to where we wouldn't be seen on arrival. And with Una currently asleep, we'll have to wait until dusk to either search for why we're here or take some time to study the rest of the scrolls."

Rachel glanced out to the west and saw the sun setting below the western horizon. She then turned to look toward the stone statue of a kneeling winged unicorn-like gargoyle before them. They couldn't leave Una to get smashed, and thankfully now, the sun was setting and they could get moving soon. As she nodded she then noticed a different celestial object in the sky and gave a heavy sigh.

"What is it?" Arthur asked curiously.

"You three might have to handle much of the mission yourselves tonight," Rachel commented heavily, "I'm afraid, I'll need to find some safe place for the night."

Both Merlin and Arthur glanced up to see the full moon rising in the eastern sky and sighed heavily.

"Your abilities have helped us before," Arthur commented, "and I'm sure you avoid being noticed when you transform."

"Yes, but so far, those have been on nights with no full moon," Rachel answered with a sigh, "I could shift back as soon as possible. I can't do that tonight, and someone is bound to spot a seven foot tall wolf woman running around Vienna. Una can glide up to the rooftops to avoid danger. If I was at ground level, I'd be trapped there."

"And we'd have a hard time explaining to the locals the existence of a werewolf and the fact that she isn't like the ones they've probably seen in movies, or told old legends about," Merlin sighed and nodded, "You'll wait until Una has woken up so that we can plan for tonight and tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, I mean, dusk isn't too far away," Rachel nodded, "it'd be easier then just running off."

It was then that Una's stone form began crack and splinter as the female gargoyle under the stoneskin began to wake up for the night. A moment later, Una shot up and flared her wings out, sending small bits of stone everywhere. She soon found that they had come to a stop and were now out of the mists.

"Where are we?" Una asked as she shook the last bits of stone off of her.

"Austria," Merlin answered her, "Vienna specifically."

Una gave a soft sigh.

"If the reasons for us being here weren't so important, this might actually be an interesting visit," Una commented, "seeing sites as old as many in England but coming from a different culture."

"We might get a chance for some sight seeing," Arthur commented, "at least until we know why we are in Vienna."

"I would assume to study the scrolls we recovered in Saudi Arabia," Una answered.

"That may be part of it," Merlin sighed, "although for tonight and possibly the next couple of nights if necessary, our group will have do without Rachel."

Una turned to look at the other female in their group and then glanced at the moon rising above them.

"I could easily carry her to the rooftops," Una commented.

"No, it's alright Una," Rachel spoke up, "While I'm sure I could hide myself for a short period of time, with tonight being a full moon, it's too risky to have me being in wolf form and in the middle of another country's capital. You could easily glide away. I can not, and my wolf form would weigh you down if they spotted both of us."

"And with no present lodgings, it isn't like we can keep her in an hotel room and hope no one hears her howl through the walls," Arthur said with a sigh, "Rachel intends to head outside the city for at least tonight."

"They've also told me that we might not be near the reason why we are here," Rachel answered, "I can scout out things outside the city while you guys find some place quiet where you can study the scrolls."

"And where are we to meet again?" Una asked.

"I hoped to meet up again with Arthur and Merlin here, tomorrow morning," Rachel answered, "after I have changed back."

"And you're sure this is a good idea?" Una asked, "what you're attacked?"

"I don't know if it's a good idea," Rachel sighed, "I suppose I could get attacked by something, but I'd like to think I can defend myself. Besides, it's not like we have many options. Merlin and Arthur will need you to help them figure out what's in the scrolls we uncovered and look around the city for any reason why we're here. And even if no one notices my transformation, a seven foot werewolf shouldn't be that hard to miss in a busy city."  
Una slowly sighed and then nodded, sensing this was an argument that she couldn't win, and sensing that Rachel did have a point. She would be difficult enough to hide, adding a fully transformed Rachel for the night wouldn't make things easier.

"Be careful," Una cautioned.

"I will be," Rachel answered, feeling actually somewhat proud that the gargoyle considered her a friend, "if I find anything that looks remotely big, I'll come close to the city and give several loud and long howls. Hopefully you guys will get to me before their animal control does."

Rachel then slowly began to head up the steps to the street level and leave the group for the night. That left Arthur, Merlin, and Una to discuss their plans for the night.

"So, where will we be deciphering the scrolls?" Una asked, "I doubt I can just walk into a library, and you would get arrested if I placed you on a rooftop."

"I'm sure we can find a public park somewhere that we can use," Arthur commented, "and I'd think that the either the trees or any monuments would give you a place to hide should anyone suspicious get too close."

"That might work," Merlin nodded, "I can't remember if Vienna's parks have any placed picnic tables in them, I wouldn't think so, but I don't really know for sure."

"It'd be best to look at the scrolls one at a time," Una told him, "As I'm sure my help will be needed while your magic is still 'weak', Merlin, trying to multitask on deciphering them is not a good idea."

"We're all a little anxious to make some serious progress in regards to getting the information we need," Arthur spoke, hoping to at least explain their answer, "and for the time being, there isn't that much else to do, unless Rachel does come across something outside the city."

"I'm just insuring that everyone keeps a sane head about them," Una answered, "especially since we've agreed to this idea of splitting up."

"Rachel feels what she's doing is necessary," Merlin reminded her.

"I know," Una answered, "and being in an unknown city, I'd prefer to be fairly cautious when it comes to moving around the city, but it isn't something that I really like. Splitting up nearly killed Griff in the War. I've always felt that people who are close through either working together or being family, they should always stay together."

Merlin and Arthur nodded, knowing the grief that Una and Leo went through when they thought that Griff had died in the Battle of Britain. Despite the fact that Goliath had saved the griffon-like gargoyle with the phoenix gate, they knew that Leo and Una had suffered.

"People grow apart as well," Arthur commented, "I mean, you and Leo became mates. Sir Griff appears to be headed down the same path with Octavia. Things won't remain the same forever."

Una nodded, "That will likely happen. But it has nothing to do with our current situation. Rachel could be attacked, and that is why I would prefer that we stick together."

"She can defend herself," Arthur reminded Una, "we'll have to have faith in her."

Rachel, meanwhile, walked calmly along the street, hoping to make her way outside the city before it got too close to midnight. She didn't know the city, and that was another reason for her wanting to be outside it when she transformed. Being in her wolf form through the night in city she didn't know, and therefore couldn't escape through easily back alleys and other parts of the city.

Even in early evening while there were still some people on the street, it was difficult for Rachel, although she was sure that her only barely passable German was the reason for that. Once she got onto a road that she was sure would take her out of town, she was approached by several middle aged men who gathered around fairly closely. Closer, in fact then she preferred.

"Excuse me, sirs," Rachel spoke and tried to get passed them.

"Hello, my lady," the apparent leader of the group spoke, "You appear to be rather lost. My associates and I are with the city's tourism office and we can not allow one such as yourself to be lost in our fair city."

"I'm not lost," Rachel argued, "I'm actually trying to get out of the city."

"Out of our fair city?" the man asked, sounding shocked, "Please tell me it wasn't something someone has said to you!"

"No, it's nothing like that," Rachel answered, knowing that she needed an excuse to get out of the city, "It's just… it's just that I wanted to get a look at the Austerlitz battle sight, for a paper I'm writing for college you see, and I have no car, so…"

"Austerlitz is in the other direction," one of the others said, pointing in the direction from which Rachel had came.

Rachel then growled to herself, knowing she'd been caught, but didn't want to let the 'wolf' out to thrash these people quite yet. She hoped she could find a way to avoid locking herself in wolf form before she had to change as much as possible.

"Look, I really need to get going," Rachel said urgently and checked her wrist watch, which displaced 7:30 PM on its digital display panel, "so if you blokes could just move along…"

"Come on now," the leader said, trying to through out as much charm as possible, "would it really hurt you to get a look at our fair city? There is a great amount of history in Vienna."

"You could get hurt if you don't know what's good for you," Rachel threatened, struggling to keep herself from transforming.

She then moved to shove the leader down and clear a path to get past him and back on her way. She was unsuccessful, however, for as she stretched her hands out to shove the man annoying her out of her way, the others grabbed her arms from behind, and despite beginning to use some of her extra strength, they held her back.

"I had hopped this part wouldn't have come to this," the man spoke in an almost remorseful tone.

"You're not as sorry as you're going to be!" Rachel threatened and felt herself beginning to change as she had to get away from them, even if it meant exposure as a werewolf.

"I'm afraid not, lycan," the man answered, "You're going to be of great help to us."

"What?" Rachel gasped as she was completely shocked.

These people knew she was a werewolf, but hadn't even changed enough to make it visibly clear what she was.

"How did…" Rachel then spoke.

She couldn't say any more as she felt something that felt like a hypodermic needle being injected into her neck.

"Hurry," the leader said as Rachel fell unconscious, "We must get her to a secure location before she transforms and before we are noticed."

**Elsewhere**

The man who had found Rachel sat quietly in the same room that he had detected the female werewolf in when his phone rang. He quickly answered it to receive the information we expected.

"Yes?" the man spoke.

"We got her," came the answer from the other end of the line.

"It's a female?" the man asked.

"Yes," his contact answered, "she was trying to get out of the city actually."

The man laughed slightly.

"We're on our way to your 'lab' now," his contact answered, "I will warn you, I do not think she is Austrian, so expect her to be angrier then what one would normally expect."

"Don't worry," the man answered, "silver will easily restrain her."

**City Park**

Arthur and Merlin carefully walked into a city park that was available to them. The only spot that they found that would provide enough room for Una to be able to remain largely hidden was a small spot occupied by a stone bench. There was an electric lamp not too far away, so lighting, wasn't an issue for them.

"This spot looks as good as any," Arthur spoke aloud to alert Una that they had found a place to stop.

They then sat down and waited for Una to land. As she landed, Merlin pulled one of the scrolls out of a small sack he had with him. He sighed heavily as he did so.

"Deciphering scrolls one at a time," Merlin sighed, "This will take all night."

"Nothing else to do really though," Una answered, "I doubt there is much that we would be needed for here, unless there's some criminal group out and about that their police can't stop, and if there is, I'm sure we'll find out about it one way or another."

Arthur nodded in agreement.

"It'd still help if we knew the language written on these scrolls," Arthur commented.

"I think this one is Aramaic," Merlin spoke, "but without my powers as a fey halfling, I can't translate the words naturally, and I doubt my ring is strong enough to compensate."

"I would have thought you had the time to study a lot of these old languages the old fashioned way," Una commented with a slight chuckle.

"I did, and I did study," Merlin answered her, "problem is, I've probably forgotten a fair bit, it'll take some time to figure everything out."

"Then we'd best get started," Una spoke, "I know a fair bit about languages myself, so I'm sure we can at least get the basics of these scrolls down."

Arthur then stood up while Una and Merlin began to read though the first scroll.

"I'll keep an eye out about the park," Arthur answered, "make sure no one gets too close."

**Elsewhere**

Rachel awoke to the quiet ticking of an old clock and found herself in what looked like an old stone cell from a castle. She also found herself shackled to the wall. She immediately tried to pull herself free, but recoiled immediately as she felt a burning sensation in her wrists. She then took a close look at the shackles that were restraining her, and gave a heavy sigh as she saw them.

"Silver," Rachel gave a heavy sigh.

"Yes," a voice cut her off, "and shortly, they will be reminding you that they are silver rather firmly."

Rachel looked up to see a man dressed in monks robes standing before her. Next to him was the old clock, which read eleven thirty. She would be transforming in thirty minutes, although she was sure that the man already knew what she was, considering that he had used silver to restrain her.

"How do you know what I…" Rachel began to ask, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

"Sorcery," the man answered, with a fairly confident smile, "everything has a unique 'biorhythm'. The fey give off a great deal of raw power that shines like a beacon. Humans give off a dull hum that in a city can be overpowering considering the number of humans living here. Werewolves, however, give off two simultaneous signals. One is clearly human, but the other similar to that of the grey wolf. Once you entered the city, you were rather easy to find."

Rachel then only glared at the man, assuming that he was up to no good.

"And what could you possibly want with me?" Rachel asked.

"Just you," the man answered, "You are very important to our cause."

Rachel then looked at the man nervously as he moved over to a door and opened it, allowing a group of men in, which Rachel guessed to be the men that had prevented her from getting outside the city.

"You needn't be too concerned," the man answered, "I have no intention of directly harming you in any way, so long as you cooperate."

"Then why the silver?" Rachel shot back.

"Just to restrain you long enough for me to make my offer," the man replied, "that is all. If you cooperate, I'll even release you from your shackles."

"And just what is it you want me to do?" Rachel asked, hoping she could get the man to blab his plans.

"Merely a scratch or two," the man answered, "Even a slight nibble if absolutely necessary."

"You want me to…" Rachel gasped realizing what the man was getting at.

"Yes," the man answered with a smile, "I would think that my associates and I have earned the privilege."

"Privilege?" Rachel asked, sounding shocked and disgusted.

"For years the werewolf has been a symbol of power and might," the man answered, "and my bad has dedicated their lives to following that path."

"Werewolves were created to be protectors," Rachel answered.

"Of course," the man replied, "One has to protect one's assets in a region after one conquers it."

That frightened Rachel to say the least. These guys weren't some secret society that supposedly controlled the world, or some crook out to make money. They were some sort of supernatural cult that sought take over the world, or at least part of it. And they wanted her to turn them into werewolves.

"I'm not going to help you in any way," Rachel answered firmly, "I am a protector, not some stupid cult out to conquer the world!"

"World?" the man asked, "no, just Vienna. The world has fallen on hard times because there are no strong to rule the weak, and powers of a sorcerer are limited, especially considering the jumps man has made in technology, but those jumps have destroyed the Earth. The Danube was once a clean river. No it's full of industrial pollution and dangerous."

"So you're gonna take over a city and force people to make it better?" Rachel growled at them.

"We will right the wrongs that have been done," the man answered, "and you will provide us with the means to do so!"

"I will…" Rachel began to answer as the clock struck twelve and she was soon engulfed in the pain of transforming.

"You're already helping," the man smiled as Rachel screamed in pain.

Rachel looked up angrily as she felt her body growing larger and more and more wolf-like. The men were beginning to gather closer to her, as her claws grew out and her teeth begin the sharpen. The leader grabbed one of her arms and then reached for her hands. Rachel responded by clenching her fists and covering up her thumbs. She tried to pull her arm back as well, but the wall behind her, and the fact that her growing arms were now beginning to truly feel the burn of the silver shackles, she felt weak there.

"That silver must burn," the man commented, "I'll release you from it if you agree to cooperate."

Rachel shook her head as she felt her face begin to push out into her muzzle. She was determined not to let these people become werewolves. The fact that at least one of them was already a practicing sorcerer made them dangerous to both her and the city already. The last thing the city needed was a pack of werewolves lead by a megalomaniac. Despite her determination, she found herself howling as her tail pushed out behind her.

The man then swung his hand quickly toward her jaws and fangs, trying to cut his hand on them. Rachel only barely moved her muzzle away and closed it before he could succeed.

"You are trying my patience," the man growled, "You will empower us, one way or another. The shackles are tight against you now, and eventually the pain of touching them will break that spirit of yours. If not, I have other ways of making you cooperate."

Rachel only growled back.

"Very well," the man sighed and turned to the other men, "It will take awhile before we can be sure the silver isn't enough of a persuasive factor. We need to watch her until she agrees."

The man then left the room with three of the other men. The remaining two stood guard watching Rachel intently. Rachel stared back, knowing she needed to get free somehow and defeat these goons and their wizard goon, and she had to do it quick as the silver shackles were testing the limits of her endurance. She whimpered slightly as she tried to think of a way to free herself, which made her guards laugh.

"Some werewolf," the first man snickered, "can't endure a little pain."

The other man only snickered, which pushed Rachel over the edge. She wasn't going to stand there and let some thug mock her as silver burned her wrists and ankles. She then quickly began to pull down with her wrists, snarling as the pressure of her pushing against the shackles burned even more, but the wall they were chained to wasn't strong enough, and soon the chains themselves had been pulled out of the wall.

That made the two men stagger back in surprise, as they didn't expect her to free her arms. They immediately screamed for help while Rachel set about freeing her legs. The shackles burned her hands as she ripped them from the walls as well, but that had freed her from being chained to wall.

"Now you're all going to pay," Rachel growled once she was fee of the wall and advanced on the two men.

One man pulled out what looked like a tranquilizer gun, but his shot was wide, and Rachel quickly landed a strong blow on him which sent the first guard flying and taking his weapon with him. That guard was soon out cold and laying by the far wall. The other guard fled out the door screaming for help. Rachel followed, only to be hit by a lightning blast that sent her flying back into the room. The leader and all four of his followers followed, although the one who had alerted them looked very fearful and clung to the rear section of the group.

"I really didn't want it to come to this," the leader spoke, "I really didn't, but it would appear that you are totally uncooperative. I'm afraid you'll have to be terminated."

The leader then fired a blaster much like Macbeth's sending a wave of electricity at Rachel while the others prepared some sort of weapon. Rachel dodged the blast and rolled underneath a large wooden table. Once underneath it, she stood up and threw the table at her opponents. The leader ducked under it, but the thrown table did take out three men following him. That left Rachel alone with the leader and a man armed with only a knife, which she guessed would likely be made out of silver.

The leader fired another blast of electricity at her, which Rachel dodged. Rachel then moved forward quickly and kicked the blaster out of the leader's hands. She then quickly pivoted on one foot and grabbed the front of the man's robes and gave him a hard shove. The man stumbled backward quickly and fell over the table that she had thrown earlier and landed hard on his back.

Rachel had no time to see if the man had fallen unconscious, however, as the other aide had recovered the leader's electric blaster and fired on Rachel, and by dumb luck hit the silver shackles around her wrists. The electricity was magnified by the metal, and combined with the fact that the metal was one that she was currently 'allergic' to, it hurt even more so, and the force of the impact sent Rachel flying into the wall that she had earlier been chained to. Thankfully the aide then rushed to check on the leader of the group, buying time for Rachel to recover.

She then looked over to see both men standing near the thrown table and preparing to strike again. Rachel quickly wasted no time and leaped at two men. She quickly grabbed each by the throat and took them to the ground. While they struggled to free themselves from her grip, she then threw them in opposite directions. They each flew into the stone walls opposite Rachel and fell unconscious.

Rachel then breathed a sigh of relief at that, but found she had no time to celebrate or even remove the shackles from her wrists and ankles as she heard sirens outside and footsteps approaching from the hall. She quickly moved into the hall and listened to the sound of the approaching footsteps and then quickly moved in the opposite direction.

**The Park**

Translating the scroll took a fairly long time for Merlin and Una. Mostly because it had been so long since Merlin had studied the language that the scroll was written in, and Una because she had little contact with the language before. But they were making progress in decoding it.

"Ah ha," Merlin commented as he and Una got to the end of a sentence.

"What is it?" Arthur asked from his position, where he had been keeping watch.

"It's nothing much, really," Merlin answered, "this scroll appears to be a sort of history of the Illuminati's activities, not all of which is entirely relevant to us."

"Like what?" Arthur asked.

"For one thing, it lists that the Mage had prophecies of his own that he left with the Illuminati after they came to him," Merlin explained, "this scroll doesn't contain those prophecies, only the information that there are prophecies."

"And they may be a real clue as to why the Illuminati has been so interested in stopping you and Merlin," Una added.

"Could be," Arthur nodded, "Have you found anything that relates to finding your cure?"

"The only thing we've found so far is some information relating to a site 'Alpha and Omega' but not much else," Merlin told him.

"Any hint at where the site is?" Arthur asked.

"No," Merlin sighed, "at least, not yet. I'd still say that what we've uncovered has been helpful. We at least know we can recover the powder needed to restore my powers and we've gained at least a hint as to why the Illuminati is so intent on stopping us."

Arthur then nodded in agreement. Merlin and Una were about to go back to their translating when they heard a sudden rustling noise coming from some nearby bushes. Una and Arthur quickly turned to find it was Rachel, fully transformed and with shackles on her wrists and ankles. Una could tell they were silver as she could smell Rachel's burnt fur as the female werewolf emerged from the bushes.

"Rachel!" Arthur gasped, "are you alright?"

"Fine, largely," Rachel answered and then held up her shackles, "except for these."

"Silver…" Arthur gasped in surprise while Una quickly cut through the shackles with her talons.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed, "I got jumped and tranquilized before I could even get out of the city."

"Who has done this?" Arthur asked, sounding very concerned.

"Some fools who thought I was going to help them conquer the city," Rachel answered, "wanted me to turn him and his followers into werewolves. Come tomorrow, they'll be looking at bars."

"Well, at least they've been stopped then," Merlin nodded.

"But this is why I insisted we stay together," Una said in an almost motherly voice, "It will be tomorrow night by the time your burns heal after being kept in direct contact with silver for so long. We could have helped you."

"I was concerned that someone would see me," Rachel replied, "and they jumped me by surprise. You all could have been knocked out too."

"And Rachel defeated them in the end anyway," Arthur cut in, "let us be grateful for that and that she made it back to us."

"In the meantime, did you guys find out anything?" Rachel asked.

"Some possible clues as to why the Illuminati has been after us," Una answered, "and at least the name of a location where we can get what we need to cure Merlin."

"That's good," Rachel gave polite smile, "It would appear that we've accomplished everything we're needed for."

Arthur and Merlin nodded.

"We'll only know for sure in the morning back at the skiff," Merlin commented, "but I believe you're right."

**The End…**


	25. Dragged In

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two weeks after "Deciphering Clues".

Dragged In

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Arizona**

"Things have been rather quiet out here," the youngest of the three Maza children commented as she walked along a small trail as the sun set on the western horizon.

"You'd prefer it to be hectic?" Coyote asked back, somewhat humorously.

"No," Beth sighed, "Elisa and Derek can have all the action. I'm quite content to stay here where the worst I'll have to deal with is an excess of scrapped knees."

Coyote nodded at that. Since the Second Unseelie War the two had returned to Flagstaff where Beth reopened her small clinic. Both had been shocked to find that hardly anyone needed her services while they had been gone, but it was nothing that was really a thing to worry about. Beth reopened her clinic and set about preparing for the daily business of running it. Coyote had some 'fey' related matters that he had to deal with from time to time, but largely, things had been quiet for both of them.

As they rounded a bend in the trail they came up on a small creek that barely had any water in it, but it still had water nonetheless. Beth was somewhat shocked at the moment by the sight of the creek, not so much that there was a creek there, but by the mist that seemed to be covering it at the moment.

"Someone is arriving via Avalon's magic," Coyote commented coolly.

When the mist cleared, a small skiff sat there in the small creek, although the shallowness of the creek was such that it wasn't really floating, but sitting on the bottom without any danger of water spilling into it. Inside the skiff were some fairly recognizable faces. One was a white female unicorn-like gargoyle, and two were human males, one looking middle aged with brown hair and a largely brown beard. The other was older with largely grey to grayish-white hair. The last occupant of the skiff was a young woman that neither Beth nor Coyote could recognize.

"It would appear we have greeters this time," the gargoyle commented.

"Indeed," Coyote smiled, "What brings you out here from London? I would have thought that that was your protectorate."

"It is, but there have been some incidents there that have forced us to leave London," Arthur spoke carefully, "and it would be preferable that it be discussed somewhere more private, Mister…"

"Coyote," Coyote answered, "No 'Mister'. And I'm sure you all remember Beth Maza."

"I believe we met during the Unseelie business," Una nodded.

"You'll have to forgive me if I'm not any good with names," Beth spoke, "I'm afraid I was not with your clan while you were in New York."

"You do remember Arthur and Merlin, don't you?" Una asked.

Beth glanced at the two men in the skiff and then nodded.

"And who is the young lycan with you?" Coyote asked curiously toward Rachel at the far end of the skiff.

Rachel gasped in shock and found herself unable to say anything.

"He's a fey, ma'am," Beth spoke up, "he can sense those sorts of things."

"This is Rachel Winters," Arthur introduced them, "she is with us."

"It's good to meet you all," Coyote asked, "but, it would be best if you came with us for now."

"Will people see us?" Rachel asked, thankful that it would be another month before the next full moon.

"It's not likely," Beth commented, "but people do live out here and several use these trails for nature hikes or for specific cultural reasons, related to the tribes that still live in the area."

The newly arrived group nodded and were soon following Beth and Coyote back down the trail. Beth's home and clinic was in a fairly rural area, which allowed most of her 'patients' to get to her easier, rather then having to drive all the way into Flagstaff itself. It gave her and Coyote the opportunity to go hiking when there wasn't any crisis to deal with or any calls to head into Flagstaff and help there. Still, it took a fair amount of time for them to make it there. Beth ushered them all in through the back door.

The group then gathered in the small living room that was available to them.

"So what brings you out to Arizona?" Coyote asked again, "In a skiff from Avalon, no less."

"We're largely trying to restore Merlin's powers," Arthur sighed, "An Illuminati sorcerer stole them, and we need to get to a Site Omega to get what we need to cure him. We're largely playing a game that Avalon's magic will eventually send us to where we need to go to get the cure."

"That could be quite a problem, given the nature of Avalon's magic," Coyote pointed out, "and the fact that you probably don't know where this Site Omega is."

"We've largely relied on luck, so far," Merlin told him, "eventually Avalon will send us to this Site Omega."

"Only if it deems that you need your powers," Coyote warned him, "as the humans say, 'there may be higher powers at work'."

"But England needs him, I need him," Arthur argued.

"I have no doubt, and I don't intend to stop you," Coyote answered, "I'm just saying that there are things you might just have to accept."

"I am prepared for that, but so far, there's no need to give up hope," Merlin sighed.

"If I remember what Elisa told me when she and Goliath were traveling, doesn't Avalon send you where you need to be?" Beth asked, "what could you possibly need here? There hasn't been anything like what happened when Elisa and Goliath were sent here."

"We can't really know," Una answered, "Avalon might have sent us here because of something relating to the Illuminati, which would mean you might not have noticed the 'transgressions', or the reason may not be as easily deducible. Our last stop in was in Austria, largely to have Rachel stop a cult of werewolf worshipers."

"They were worshiping you?" Beth asked curiously.

"Not me personally, my ability to turn into a seven foot talking wolf-like creature," Rachel answered and then paused for a moment and then asked, "and you're remarkably calm with a lot of this."

"Well, I can sorta understand a lot of the 'weird things' that you're likely dealing with," Beth answered, "Elisa and Goliath came here on their world tour awhile back, and that is when I first met Coyote."

"You've met them?" Rachel asked.

"Of course," Beth chuckled, "It'd be kinda rude for me not know my elder sister and her husband."

"You seem to have come a long way from home," Rachel commented.

"Me and Elisa's dad grew up here, you could say I've actually come home," Beth answered, "besides I like the quiet out here. None of the constant worries about cyborg mercenaries or magically supped up crooks."

"So what do you do out here?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I run my own clinic here for the people living outside Flagstaff, and I even go into town when they need help," Beth told her, "I'm also available to make house calls for small things if someone can't go into town or make it here."

**Elsewhere**

Inside a small office inside the Flagstaff post office a lone man sat a rather expensive looking computer. He was largely checking his email and reviewing the events of the day so far, when a small icon popped up in the lower right corner of the screen. He clicked on it and the image of a man in a hood appeared on the screen.

"Sir?" the man asked.

"We are just checking in on your situation," the hooded man spoke, "I trust everything is in order."

"They usually are around here," the man in the room, the post office manager answered, "no problems. Basic gossip is behind your efforts in China, largely."

"Gossip does not interest the Illuminati," the hooded man answered, "and anyway, the people in you area do not know the truth behind the war in China. If they did, they might change their minds."

The post office manager nodded, "Do you have any specific orders for me, sir?"

"None super specific at the moment," the hooded man replied, "although I will inform you that it would be wise to be on the lookout for a middle aged man accompanied by a woman in her mid twenties to early thirties, and an older man."

The image of the hooded man then vanished to reveal photographs taken of Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel.

"We've been receiving some reports of them showing up all around the globe," the hooded man spoke, "so we believe they're using Avalon's magic. They could show up anywhere."

"I've never seen them before, but I'll keep an eye out," the post office manager answered not really recognizing the faces, but wasn't one to question orders.

**The Illuminati Headquarters**

"Are you sure this is necessary?" the hooded man asked as he turned to face Four who was present in the room with him, "Flagstaff, Arizona is a pretty quiet place. Other then one or two very minor members, we don't have that much going on in the region."

"Pendragon may not be the cause of our troubles in China at the moment, but his existence and actions are problems for the Illuminati," Four answered, "remember that our masters included prophecies of us saving Britain. If Arthur saves it, the Mage's prophecies will be destroyed. We can not allow that to happen. And if he is in fact traveling by Avalon's magic, he could show up anywhere."

"Of course, sir," the hooded man, a minor agent used as an impersonator by the Illuminati, responded, "Shall I also contact units to secretly spread out across the country should he appear in one of these areas?"

"No," Four answered, sounding slightly irritated, "the conflict in China is too great for us to ignore. If they are found, have our agents there contact the police. We will provide all the necessary warrants to arrest them for various crimes against humanity if necessary."

The hooded man nodded and let the council member leave, but once he was gone, he gave a heavy sigh. He wasn't one to believe in prophecies and feared the Council's obsession with preserving a few spare sayings that the Mage had said here and there before his demise was blinding them to greater problems, including the present troubles in Tibet and China. He couldn't change anything though and set out to carry out the orders he had been given.

**Beth's Clinic/Home**

"It's very generous for you to allow us to stay here," Rachel commented as Beth lead her to one of the guest rooms that were available.

"Well, as I said before, I can't think of any reason for Avalon to send you here," Beth commented, "as when Elisa and Goliath came, the desecration of Coyote's sacred land had been on the news for a while. Nothing like that has been going on, and it might take you guys awhile to figure out why you were sent here."

"None of us want to intrude on you," Rachel told her.

"Oh, it's no bother," Beth answered, "to some extent, knowing a little bit about what's going on isn't a bad thing. I'm not into the whole 'police/gargoyle' thing that Elisa and Derek do, but I don't mind hearing about what's going on."

"Derek?" Rachel asked.

"My older brother," Beth answered, "turned into a mutate by an evil geneticist."

"I'm sorry," Rachel commented, "It seems your family seems to have a hard time escaping 'weird' stuff."

"Which is largely why I'm out here," Beth chuckled, "I don't mind hearing about it, but I don't really want to live it."

"It might end up coming here since we are here," Rachel admitted, "things like that seem to happen."

"I might have a story to tell my family then, or kids if Coyote and I ever decide to do that," Beth replied, "besides, Coyote will likely be the one that helps you the most if there is anything that Avalon has sent you here for."

"I'm sure Merlin and Arthur would be most thankful for whatever help he decides to offer," Rachel answered.

"Man, a lot of this seems rather complicated," Coyote commented, "And a lot of it is in languages that I never encountered. Even with my powers I might not be able to easily translate this."

"If you can't, it's nothing we'll really push," Merlin commented, "I'll likely be able to read it once I restore my powers."

"It'll still be easier when you can figure out where this 'Site Omega' is," Coyote answered, "because with Avalon's magic, you may get sent to a location near it, and never know it."

"Very likely," Arthur commented, "but, we would need to find and capture an Illuminati agent in order to even try looking, and he would have to know the location."

"Which can't be easily done, unless your advice is to go knocking doors asking people if they're members of the Illuminati," Una added.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of doing that," Coyote chuckled, "that'd get you on 'Cops' in this country. But, if they are determined to protect the Mage's prophecies, they might try to hunt you down. Hopefully, if they do, we can lead the battle to a more remote and less culturally significant area to have the battle."

"That may be impossible out here," Merlin commented, "You've already said this area is quiet. Unless they have some secret instillation out here, the only force they'd have to come after us would be local law enforcement, and we don't want to create anything like what's been going on in Tibet."

"And that will likely mean that your reason for being here has nothing to do with the Illuminati," Coyote commented, "because in areas where that is their only tool, they haven't been corrupted by power or ambition the way much of it probably has."

"I'm sure we'll be able to figure out some way of figuring out why we're here," Arthur commented, "It may not be the Illuminati, and I actually wouldn't be inclined to believe it is. But, if it is something else, I'm sure we'll find out about it."

"Don't be surprised if it isn't something obvious," Coyote warned, "Flagstaff has been rather quiet. We have some small town crimes and such, but no where on the level that the clan faces in New York."

"With some of the things we've faced, a little peace and quiet would be a nice short break," Merlin smiled, "It might even give us the chance to try and translate more of the scrolls that we uncovered in Arabia."

The group then began looking at one of the scrolls that they had brought along with them.

"Will you help us?" Una asked.

"Maybe a bit," Coyote shrugged, "as I said before, that stuff seems a little tricky. It might take even me a while to translate that stuff, even with my magic. There's also the fact that Beth and I live a rather diurnal life. I'll need some sleep soon."

"We will need to take a look around, see if there is anything you might not have noticed," Arthur commented.

**The Next Morning**

The night did not go easily for the travelers as far as translating the scrolls went. Coyote did help for awhile, but went to bed around eleven o'clock, with Beth following shortly after. Without Coyote's help, everything slowed down even further and Rachel and Arthur went to their respective guest rooms around midnight. Merlin and Una stayed at it for a little while, but Merlin was finally exhausted by one AM.

Left alone, Una did not entirely up to simply reading the scrolls to try and translate them, and she soon left to explore the area and see if there was anything that warranted attention. She found nothing and returned to the house shortly before dawn and stood quietly underneath the roof's overhang in the backyard away from a spot where she would be seen.

Beth and Coyote were the first ones up that morning and they quickly found the others asleep as they went out to the kitchen to get breakfast and for Beth to get ready to open her clinic for the day.

"So how did it go, last night?" Beth asked while the ate.

"The translating?" Coyote sighed, "all I know is that it isn't a language that I've studied or learned, which means I'm relying one hundred percent on my magic to translate it, and even then, that takes awhile."

"What did you find with the little that you read?" Beth asked curiously, "If it's something that I could ask."

"It was mostly all small spells and stuff," Coyote answered, "and none of them were spells that would even be considered dangerous unless they were done in the right combination with other spells."

"It all sounds complicated to me," Beth sighed.

"Not once you've learned it," Coyote told her.

"You say that like I could be a sorceress," Beth commented.

"It's not like you don't believe in magic," Coyote told her.

That made Beth pause for a moment as Coyote sounded rather serious.

"You actually think I could?" Beth asked, "I've never been into that sorcery stuff. No one in my family has, and my sister is now a gargoyle and my mother's been marked by a werepanther."

"It's not what you think," Coyote tried to explain, "you probably can not do magic in the way that Merlin and Una practice magic. You don't have the training, but it might be possible that you could learn."

"And I'd suppose you'd teach me how to get my 'Wicca' on?" Beth asked.

Coyote chuckled slightly, "No, I practice fey magic. If you were to learn, you'd have to learn from a mortal, or at least learn a mortal's spells."

"So even if I wanted to learn magic, I'd have to learn from someone else?" Beth questioned, and waited for him to nod, "What's brought all this up?"

Coyote then sighed heavily, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth."

Beth watched him closely. Coyote only sighed again.

"Well, to be honest, you sort of remind me of someone I knew back before the first Unseelie War," Coyote explained, "She was human and lived in this area. She was also the closest thing most Native American tribes had to the wizards and sorcerers of Europe and Asia. I believe the proper term is shaman, but it's been so long I can't remember."

"So I remind you of an old girlfriend?" Beth asked.

"No, I was never able to get that close, and she was already married when I met her for the first time anyway," Coyote answered.

"Well," Beth sighed, "I don't believe I have the power, and if I did, I probably wouldn't use it. I may not mind a little fun here and there, but the things that our current guests have to do, what Elisa and Derek do is dangerous, and I know I would never be any good at that stuff."

"You never know," Coyote answered, "something about the situation our guests are currently in makes me think that there is more to their visit then just stopping some bad guy. And given how quiet things have been, I really doubt there is a 'bad guy' to be beaten."

"Are you going to help them?" Beth asked.

"As best I can while they're here," Coyote answered, "We'll avoid doing any more translating while you're working so that we're not a distraction. Besides, if I take them into town when I get your mail, maybe we'll come across the reason they've been sent here."

"Have fun then," Beth commented with a slight chuckle.

**The Post Office**

The post office manager quietly walked through the office as other employees sorted mail and while others dealt with customers at the main desk. Things had been rather quiet so far that morning. It was now nearly eleven and he was on his way to get himself another cup of coffee. As he did so, he glanced out over the main desk to see a young man with dark hair walk in. He was one the post office manager recognized. He was dating a local doctor who ran a small rural clinic, what caught his attention were the people following him. One was a male that matched one of the pictures he had seen earlier, the other was a brunette female that he didn't recognize.

"Oh man," the post office manage exclaimed and rushed back to his office, forgetting his coffee.

Once there, he struggled to contact the Illuminati headquarters. After a few moments he did get through to an answering technician who could relay his message.

"I need to speak with the Council, immediately, it's urgent," the post office manager said urgently.

"They contacted you yesterday through a representative," the messenger answered, "Leave your message with me."

"This is important, it has to do with Pendragon," the post office manager answered urgently, "I must speak with someone from the Council."

The messenger gave a frustrated sigh and then got up.

"This will take a few moments, please wait calmly," the messenger said firmly.

Outside in the main lobby of the post office, Coyote quietly checked the mail while Rachel and Arthur looked at a vending machine that sold stamps.

"Makes me wish Avalon would allow us to go through customs," Rachel commented, "I have a few pounds on me, and their machine probably won't accept British currency."

There was a brief flash of green light and Rachel pulled out roughly one US dollar and fifty cents.

"This is usually where I can come in handy," Coyote answered, "That should be enough to get some stamps, although in an age of cell phones I'm wondering why you're writing a letter?"

"One will be for my sister, the other for my mum," Rachel answered, "The one to my sister will be sort of a touristy letter, but will contain everything as she knows about my lycanthropy and was the one who got Arthur to come help me. The one to my mum will include some information, but not all of it, as she doesn't know everything, yet, and I'm not sure I want to tell my mother that her 'baby girl' can turn into a seven foot wolf."

"Understandable," Coyote nodded, "sorry if I seem nosy."

"Nah," Rachel answered, "this stop so far seems like just a normal day, really. Somewhat of a break from secret societies, cults, rogue sorcerers, and other 'weird stuff'."

"Although it is making me wonder what we were sent here for," Arthur said quietly as they walked out, "I've seen nothing that would indicate that anything is wrong or requires outside help."

Inside the post office manager's room, the post office manager was somewhat patiently waiting for the a member of the Council to get back to him. Eventually Five appeared at the screen, looking rather frustrated.

"What is it that you interrupt a session of the Council?" Five growled angrily.

"Pendragon is here," the post office manager said urgently, "I saw him and his woman come into my post office with the guy who you think is a fey."

"Have him arrested," Five growled again, "the fey has done nothing to interfere in our affairs, and for the time being we have no need to involve him. Present them with a warrant which we will be momentarily faxing to your local police and you should have no problems."

"What if the fey resists?" the post office manager asked.

"He won't if he wants to retain his cover," Five answered, "if he does, he will go down for awhile if he's shot."

**Beth's Home/Clinic**

It was a little after noon when Coyote returned and Beth was moving to take her lunch break. Things had been rather calm, with no major emergencies. There were the occasional small cases that always popped up now and then, but it was nothing that couldn't be handled. They assumed that the rest of the day would go peacefully as well.

"Things go well?" Beth asked as Coyote lead the others into the kitchen.

"Yeah, things are as quiet as always, but they went well," Coyote replied, "most of the mail is junk, and the stuff that isn't doesn't appear to be big."

"Well that's good," Beth shrugged, "You're all welcome to have some lunch."

They all slowly made their own lunches, with Arthur, Rachel, and Merlin constantly thanking Beth for her hospitality. They were about half way through lunch when there was a sudden knock on the front door, that sounded both firm and urgent.

"I better get it," Beth sighed and got up and walked to the door.

To her surprise, it was at least three local policemen and two members from Arizona's state sheriff's office.

"Ms. Maza, we have a search warrant to search your dwelling for three fugitives of the law," the lead sheriff spoke in a commanding voice, "Please stand aside."

"But, no one has done anything here, sir," Beth protested.

The lead sheriff then physically lifted her into the air and pulled her outside her home.

"That's not what the warrant says, now stand aside," the sheriff spoke and then lead the other officers in.

They walked in until they got to the kitchen where they found the others still eating. It was the sheriff who spoke first.

"Arthur Dragon, Merlin Hawkins, and Rachel Winters, you are under arrest under the charges of murder in the first degree," the sheriff ordered as the others quickly moved forward.

Arthur was caught before he could do anything and Excalibur was quickly pulled out from under his coat.

"I found the murder weapon, sir," the officer said as he held up the sword while the other officer placed cuffs on Arthur.

"Very good," the sheriff smiled as he watched Rachel struggle slightly with the other deputy sheriff and the last officer place cuffs on Merlin.

"They haven't done anything," Coyote protested.

"Tell that to the six families they hacked to bits with that sword in Phoenix," the sheriff answered, "We've been chasing them for days. You're lucky we won't be charging you and your girlfriend with aiding and abetting fugitives of justice."

They then left with their prisoners, leaving Coyote alone in the kitchen with Beth rushing up to his side.

"You can't just let them go, they haven't done anything," Beth urged.

Coyote nodded, "I know, but this has the Illuminati's fingerprints all over it. Their story of what Arthur did is bogus, as if six people in Phoenix had been killed by a sword, it would have been on the news. It wasn't."

"You have do something," Beth urged.

"Oh, I intend to," Coyote nodded again, "but I'm going to let them get a little ways down the road before I do. That way they can't logically come back and arrest you."

Outside four police cars, one bearing the markings of the state sheriff's department drove down the highway back into Flagstaff. The officers were quite proud that they had accomplished their mission so easily.

"Shouldn't you read our Miranda Rights?" Rachel protested from the back seat, "I've seen enough American cop shows to know."

The sheriff chuckled, "I would, if you were being arrested by the Sheriff's Department of the State of Arizona. But, you've been arrested by a far more important power, so, no, I don't need to read you anything."

They only got a little further when a massive sandstorm came out of nowhere and startled the sheriff. He tried to stop, but was hit from behind by the following police cars. What resulted was an all police pile-up and they were all out of action on the side of the road. The sudden sandstorm, however, continued. It swirled around the cars until the doors were literally ripped off the hinges.

The sheriff could only just manage to remain conscious as the sand circled his car and some of it blew in. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure out in the sandstorm. He could only just see the outline, and it looked like a mixture between a human and something canine. It was only when it got close that he began to recognize it. It had the body of a man, but the head of a coyote, and it snarled at him fiercely.

"Skinwalker!" the sheriff screamed and passed out.

The figure then quickly reverted to that of Coyote and the sandstorm stopped. He then helped Rachel out of the back seat of the car.

"The others?" Rachel asked.

"Should be fine," Coyote answered, "although the deputy sheriff may need medical attention soon."

They quickly moved to the other cars and quickly freed Arthur and Merlin. The other officers were unconscious, but unharmed. They then quickly gathered around Coyote as he gathered up the deputy sheriff.

"We're deeply indebted to you," Arthur said as he retrieved his sword from the trunk of the sheriff's car.

"Yeah, you can thank me later," Coyote answered, "this guy looks like he's busted a couple of fingers and needs medical attention, and these other guys won't stay unconscious for much longer."

"Is he alright?" Rachel asked.

"He'll live, but we need to get him back to Beth's clinic if he expects to use his fingers again," Coyote told them as they then stepped away from the car and vanished into a flash of green light.

They arrived just inside Beth's front door to find Beth nervously pacing a nearby room. Once she noticed their return she rushed toward Coyote's position.

"You freed them," Beth spoke and then stopped when she saw the injured deputy sheriff.

"His fingers got broke during he rescue attempt," Coyote spoke, "He'll need medical attention."

Beth then nodded, "Carry him in, I'll patch him up there to let him move. Will anyone be getting to the rest of those officers?"

"The main Flagstaff clinic should get a report of an accident on the road with injured officers, one of which already evacuated for treatment," Coyote answered after he set the deputy sheriff down on an examining bed, "you may have to answer some questions later."

"I'm sure," Beth sighed as she did her best to look at the wounds.

It was almost an hour later when the deputy sheriff came to. He found himself in the clinic that he had helped search earlier in the day.

"I'd relax if I were you," came the voice of the woman who ran the clinic, "the fingers on both of your hands are broken, and I've just got the casts on."

He looked up to see Beth standing there.

"The prisoners?" the deputy sheriff managed to ask.

"I didn't find you," Beth answered him, "a motorcyclist did, and you were the worst for wear, and he brought you here. I've already given him the lecture about moving unconscious people from an accident."

"They aren't going to like this," the deputy sheriff muttered.

"I'm sure," Beth answered, "my sister's a cop and father is a retired cop. They never like it when a perceived bad guy gets away. I'm sure your office will understand though. From what the news said, the dust-devil that hit you had to have been powerful."

"Yeah," the deputy sheriff then sighed sheepishly, "the department. The sheriff will be even more upset. He was really looking forward to this arrest."

"Maybe, but then if it turns out they were innocent, you were merely 'barking up the wrong tree' so to speak," Beth told him, "just rest. Your department s sending a car out to pick you up."

**That Evening**

"You did quite well helping him," Arthur congratulated Beth as they sat around the table for dinner that evening.

The tale worried Una a bit, but she was also impressed with Beth's skill's as a 'doctor'.

"Will they return here, since they started here in the first place?" Una then asked.

"The man that picked the deputy up did a preliminary search, and found nothing," Coyote answered, "thought you were a niece piece of lawn décor, but found nothing."

Una shrugged, deciding to ignore the fact that police thought her to be some sort of lawn ornament.

"I wish we could have managed to get some information out of him before he left," Arthur commented, sounding defeated.

"It seems like you're not any closer to finding out why you've been sent here," Beth commented.

"I'm not so sure," Merlin spoke after a moment drawing the eyes of the others.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked curiously.

"While you and Una may be able to heal most wounds," Merlin began, "Arthur and I can not. It might be in our better interest to have someone trained in medicine with us, especially as without my magic, I can't reverse such problems through sorcery and Una can not do the same without gathering more supplies."

"You're recruiting me?" Beth asked, sounding surprised.

"We could use a doctor for this trip," Merlin sighed, "and it seems to be the only the reason we would be here would be to 'recruit' you."

"But I'm no warrior," Beth protested, "I might know a move or two of basic self defense, but not enough to defeat some maniacal villain out for blood."

"That isn't all that we deal with, and Coyote is welcome to join us to keep an eye out," Merlin told her.

Beth glanced at Coyote for a moment, looking fairly nervous. Coyote only shrugged.

"If they are here to recruit you, Avalon won't let them leave until they successfully recruit you," Coyote informed Beth.

"It would only be medicinal purposes," Arthur spoke up, "we wouldn't force you to do anything you don't want to."

"I really don't want to go at all, not to sound disrespectful or anything," Beth responded, "but I've always favored 'fun' excitement over 'dangerous' excitement."

"If you don't want to come, we'll move on, by whatever means possible," Rachel said, "you don't need to worry."

"I'm not really worried," Beth sighed, "it's just that you've all been very polite guests, and I can understand why you're on your current quest… I just don't want to see you fail."

"I don't think we'll lose, but having your skills as a physician would help deal with any possible injuries a lot more efficiently," Arthur told her, "and if you are anything like the other members of your family, I'd think you are better then you think."

Beth could only sigh.

"You really need a doctor on hand?" Beth asked.

"Potentially," Arthur sighed.

"But why me, my practice here is real small and those broken fingers I set today are usually the worst of what I see," Beth responded.

"It's probably the fact that you're the only doctor we've met who wouldn't freak out at seeing a gargoyle, a werewolf, and the real life King Arthur and his wizard, Merlin," Rachel pointed out.

"I guess there is that," Beth sighed, "I just hope sustaining serious injury isn't a likely occurrence."

"We hope so too," Arthur nodded.

"I can help with anything more serious," Coyote volunteered, "It might actually be something interesting to folks in the future."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not enthusiastic, but yeah, I'm sure," Beth sighed, "Give a few moments to call my folks and pack some things."

About two hours later, Beth was slowly following the group back to the stream with the skiff. As she looked back at her clinic, she hopped it wouldn't be damaged, or the message that she had been called away would get out fast enough. She wondered how she had let herself get into this mess, but sighed again walked quietly beside Coyote into the unknown.

**The End…**


	26. Old Wars

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Dragged In".

Old Wars

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Avalon Mists**

Coyote looked out nervously as the small skiff floated through Avalon's mists to wherever Arthur's crew was needed next. The skiff was somewhat quiet at the moment, but his unease was not unnoticed.

"You okay?" Beth asked him, "I mean isn't this generally travel when you've left Flagstaff to take care of something?"

"No I generally teleport or travel through mirrors when I have to leave Flagstaff," Coyote answered, "traveling through Avalon's mists is a way mortals are able to use Avalon's magic, although sometimes it will seem like Avalon's magic is using them."

Beth didn't answer him.

"But still, this is all very new to me," Coyote finished.

"Me too, but Elisa never said the traveling part was hard," Beth answered, "usually, it was only the destination that was dangerous."

"And always for a reason," Coyote nodded, "Don't worry about me. This is nothing to really worry about. Maybe after I'm used to it, I'll warm up to it."

Beth nodded and then turned to look out into the mists, and then glanced back to Arthur, Merlin, and Rachel.

"How long does it normally take for you to come out of the mists between stops?" Beth asked curiously, "Elisa never told me those sorts of details."

"That can never really be certain," Merlin answered, "It depends on the length of the journey. If they had taken us from Flagstaff to Phoenix, we should have left the mists by now. If we were headed anywhere in the continental US, we should be emerging fairly soon. If it's anywhere else, it could be a little while, to allow for Avalon's magic to transport us there."

Merlin gave a slight pause before continuing.

"It's likely the same magics that you naturally manipulate to transport, Coyote," Merlin then continued, "but unlike your natural method, we do not necessarily control the magic. It's likely that lack of control that prevents us from knowing how long we will be in the mists or really where we will be needed next."

Beth didn't really answer at first.

"I'm sure it's strange, but it's the only Merlin has said we can travel," Rachel spoke up, hoping to assure the young Native American-African American woman.

Beth slowly nodded in agreement. She then looked at Rachel with some sense of curiosity.

"So, Ms. Winters, if you don't mind my asking, what's it like? Being a werewolf, I mean?" Beth asked, trying to satisfy some curiosity about the supernatural world that her family had been thrown into.

Elisa had told her bits and pieces of what it was like to be a gargoyle. Saying that their desires to protect was in fact instinctual, that she liked gliding, but did have some sadness at never being able to see sunlight again. Her mother told her that she so rarely, if ever, took her panther form that she didn't really know what it was like to change, other then to describe the process of transforming. Derek was usually the most quiet about what had happened to him, partially, Beth thought, because he was the most isolated from the world living in Manhattan's sewers.

"It's Rachel," Rachel answered, "Ms. Winters is way to professional, and makes me think of my mother, even though she's a 'Missus'. And why do you ask? For the most part, it isn't really all that different from being human."

"Curiosity mostly," Beth sighed, sounding embarrassed, "with the exception of myself and my father, my entire family has been changed into something. A geneticist turned into an anthromorphic panther with wings. A sorcerer turned my sister into a gargoyle, and a rogue werepanther accidentally turned my mother into a werepanther. I guess I wonder from time to time about what it feels like for them."

"I hope you don't actually wish to join the club," Rachel commented.

That made Beth look on in slight surprise.

"She doesn't want to be a were, of any anima type, gargoyle, or mutate," Coyote spoke up in Beth's defense, "She just seeks a greater understanding, possibly to better understand the things that commonly involve her family."

"Oh, that's a relief" Rachel sighed, "I really don't want to bite or scratch anyone, even if they want it."

"I take it you don't like being a werewolf?" Beth asked, "If so, I'm sorry if I brought the topic up."

"I've accepted it, and I'm willing to use my powers when necessary," Rachel answered, "but no, I'm not particularly fond of being able to turn into a seven foot wolf creature."

"It's not so much hating herself, but the fact that she lost her humanity permanently and at first only wanted to be as normal as possible," Merlin added, "Probably very similar to what your brother, sister, and mother have already gone through, although I am no expert on their lives."

"I understand," Beth nodded, "and I'm sorry if my question offends you. I'm just curious about a lot of these sorts of things."

"I don't mind curiosity," Rachel shrugged, "to be honest though, I'm finding that being a werewolf isn't as different from being human. Now, if there was a way I could be normal again, I'd take it in a heartbeat, but it isn't like all the monster movies they've made."

"Understandable," Beth nodded, "ups and downs."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, "being able to be physically stronger and faster, as well as heightened senses is good, but I wish I didn't have change my physical appearance to gain those abilities. I am thankful, though that the only time I don't have control over the transformation is during a full moon. Otherwise, I can't really describe the ability to change at will."

Beth sighed, her curiosity not really satisfied.

"I'm sorry if I can't tell you more right now," Rachel spoke.

Beth only nodded as the mists they were in began to part.

"We're coming out," she spoke, stating the obvious, "Is there any way to know where we are?"

"Not until we're fully out of the mists, I'm afraid," Arthur answered as the mists continued to dissipate.

The mists then parted and they found themselves on a river floating through a very thick, almost tropical forest. They also found it to be night there, as Una's statue cracked and the English gargoyle awakened for the night.

"Where are we?" Una asked as she shook the stone fragments out of her hair and brushed her wings down.

"Don't know," Arthur sighed, "Some place rather warm, by the looks of things."

Arthur then carefully piloted the skiff toward the shore so that everyone could safely get off onto dry ground. They quickly found there was a fairly sizable hill near the bank of the river, and that there was a few feet of mud that had to be traversed before they were on dry ground.

"Certainly is rather tranquil territory," Rachel commented as they gathered on a small path that seemed to go up the hill.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "it should give us the time to figure out our reason for being here without attracting attention."

"That'll be easier to do once we know where we are," Coyote spoke, "Which might be easier to discern at the top of the hill. We might be able to look around."

The others nodded and began to follow Coyote up the path toward the top of the hill. The path was narrow and went back and forth along the side of the hill. Occasionally Beth saw what looked like a very large spider scurry along the ground near them. She shuddered and made sure not to go near that spot. Things were rather quiet as they went, but as the came about halfway up the hill, Una suddenly broke the silence.

"Coyote, look out!" Una spoke urgently making everyone jump back in surprise.

Beth, Rachel, Arthur, and Merlin all jumped backward when Una gave out her warning, but Coyote jumped forward in surprise. It wasn't until after he landed that the real problem began. As his feet came down, a large explosion erupted from the ground beneath him, rocketing the southwestern fey into the air. Coyote landed in the bushes nearby, and Beth was quick to run to his side.

"Coyote! Are you okay?" Beth asked.

His legs looked as though they had been blown off, but there was no blood, and they were already appearing to grow back. Coyote also didn't appear to be visibly in pain.

"Who mines a dirt path?" Coyote asked as he struggled back to his feet once his fey regeneration had repaired the damage done by the blast.

"Commonly, third world armies trying to prevent a more advanced military, or a larger one from invading," Merlin spoke, "I would have thought you knew this, given your immortality."

"The Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo and other Native American Tribes of the southwest didn't place explosives underground when they fought wars," Coyote answered, "and the Americans, when they arrived, did not feel the need to leave land mines behind."

"So where are we?" Arthur asked, "Other then China, I do not know of any other place that is at war."

"This place looks a little too heavily forested to be China," Rachel commented.

"My best guess would be somewhere in Cambodia," Merlin sighed, "the country is unstable, and the instability dates back to the Vietnam War. Between the Khmer Rouge, US bombing, and then the Vietnamese invasion, the Cambodian people have suffered. According to several news reports I've read, there are still pockets in the country that have been heavily mined, although I'm not sure who planted them."

"Thank goodness you're okay," Beth spoke to Coyote directly.

"No Iron, or at least, no pure Iron in the explosive," Coyote answered, "I'll be fine. But I think we've found out why we're here specifically. To clear these mines. Cambodia isn't in a shooting war with anyone to my knowledge, leaving minefields active is unnecessary, and dangerous to anyone who doesn't know where the mines are."

"Possibly," Arthur commented, "Although, we'll need to know how big the minefield is and if there are any villages nearby that the mines threaten."

"I might be able to find a village, but the trees are too thick for me to observe anything from the air," Una spoke in warning.

"I can do the searching on the ground," Rachel spoke, "and we can trust Coyote to dismantle the mines."

"I'd be more then willing to help in that regard," Coyote nodded, "and if Una finds a village nearby, perhaps we can see if they need any help."

"We'll still need to get to the top of the hill first," Merlin commented, "so Una can get the height needed to glide."

**Elsewhere**

A young girl was startled out of her sleep by a loud booming noise in the distance. She quickly drifted to a window and looked out toward where the sound came from. There was no smoke rising, but she was sure she heard an explosion.

"Daughter," a firm male voice spoke from behind her a moment or to later, "what are you doing up."

"I heard an explosion, father," the girl turned to see a middle aged man approach her and place his hands on her shoulders. She then pointed out the window, "it came from out there."

The father looked out the window and sighed heavily. Someone had obviously come across one of the mines that had been set up around the village. The elders in the village said they had originally been put there to keep the Vietnamese and the Americans out, but they also added that they did not trust the men who put those mines there. And for years, between the government being unstable and guerilla fighters attacking them and it over the years, no one had bothered to clean up the minefield around the village. Going beyond the small farming fields around the village was dangerous, and there had been a small area that was rapidly being filled when someone stepped on a mine trying to head to a different village for food or equipment. The man sighed as there was nothing that he could do to solve the problem.

"That was likely someone running afoul of the mines," the father spoke weakly, "nothing more."

"Shouldn't we help them?" the girl asked.

"There is nothing we can do, child," the father answered, "go back to sleep."

The girl only sighed and went back to her bed. Her father stood there and looked nervously on, wishing there was some way to make the world better for his daughter.

**Hilltop**

Even with Una spotting the mines they came across and Rachel in wolf form aiding in the searching for them, and Coyote safely and quietly using magic to dispose of them, it took a while to dispose of the mines. Many of them were clustered together, and some of them were of different types. Getting rid of the mines wasn't really that hard, as Coyote turned them into rocks, but that process going only one at a time still took time.

When they reached the top of the hill, they found the ruins of what appeared to be an old temple. Merlin looked at it, and clearly saw it was an Asian temple of some sort, but he did not know of which specific culture, although it reinforced his opinion that they were in Cambodia.

"Was this a palace of some kind?" Arthur asked as he stepped onto on of the larger stones nearby for a closer look, ignoring the plants that were growing through the cracks or the vines wrapping around the columns.

"Possibly," Merlin shrugged, "More likely it was a temple or a shrine of some sort, but I really do not know that much about many Asian cultures. I can't really tell for sure what it is, other then that it's a ruin."

"I believe I can glide from here," Una reported, "I'll try to be quick."

Arthur and the others nodded as Una scaled one of the remaining columns and took off into the air, gliding away. She was nervously wondering things as she glided along, mostly trying to stay above the that the group had been following to see if it would lead to a village or some other settlement of some kind. She mostly thought over what Merlin had said about their location.

Una could remember seeing the news reports the BBC did on America's conflict in Vietnam and the resulting problems that that war caused. The war itself between the Americans and the Vietnamese was bad enough, but the addition of the Khmer Rouge made things worse. The reports of their genocide of their own people were horrible and the reports of nothing but death took herb back to the time when she and Leo thought they had lost Griff. They may not have been customers that frequented the shop, but Una still felt a great deal of sympathy for the victims of such crimes.

The fact that the remains of the entire conflict were still there unsettled her greatly. She could understand that human governments did not always 'get along' but she couldn't understand why they couldn't clean up the messes they had made. Una sighed heavily and then continued on her way.

The rest of the group settled down to wait at the shrine ruins for Una to return. Mostly as there was no wish to wander aimlessly looking for mines until they found some sign of civilization and where it was in relation to them. Coyote seemed fairly nervous as he sat on one of the stones of the ruin.

"Is something wrong?" Beth asked him.

"Nothing is wrong, but I sense something strange," Coyote answered, "I don't know what it is."

Merlin, Rachel, and Arthur immediately looked toward the forest around them, Arthur drawing Excalibur as he did so.

"It's nothing out there," Coyote answered, "Whatever it is, it's already here, in the ruin."

"What is it?" Beth asked nervously.

"Where is it?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know what it is, but it's somewhere in these ruins," Coyote answered as he looked at the structure, "possibly under one of the stones."

"Then perhaps we should look," Rachel commented, "make sure it isn't harmful."

Coyote was unsure about that.

"I don't think it's harmful," Coyote answered, "It's just strange."

"We should still find out what it is," Merlin commented, "even seemingly innocent and harmless tools can be incorporated into powerful weapons. If we know what it is, we can more easily asses how dangerous it actually is."

Coyote only shrugged as they began looking under the stones that they were sitting on. After a few moments, Beth and Merlin came to a lone stone in the middle of the ruin that they hadn't overturned yet, and began pushing on the edge of the stone try and look underneath. As they pushed it over onto its side, a brilliant light engulfed the area, blinding Merlin and Beth, making them stumble away, while Rachel and Arthur were forced to turn away. After a few moments, the light dulled down and they could see again.

Coyote slowly approached the spot, as the source of whatever he sensed was coming from that spot. What lay under the carved stone was a small rock-like thing that was glowing faintly.

"I don't believe it," Coyote gasped in surprise and shock.

"What is it?" Rachel asked from the north edge of the ruin.

"To put it simply, it's a rock, but there is more to it then that," Coyote answered, "Long ago, according to legend, before the Gargoyle and Human races had fully evolved, the Fey were not all that different from humans today, human sorcerers that is."

"Isn't that how you are now?" Beth asked, confused.

"No," Coyote answered, "if the legend is true, the fey now are far more powerful no. We can perform magic at will, without using some empowered device that mortal sorcerers use."

"I take it this legend says the Third Race was not always this powerful?" Merlin questioned.

Coyote nodded, "The legend says that the fey were not unlike human sorcerers at that time. They could do magic, but they required the use of some tool to channel it. Then, a group of them came across a large stone, similar to those they used to channel their magic before, but far larger. FAR larger. As they came closer to it, they felt power emanating from the rock."

"So your race got its power from a rock?" Beth asked with a giggle.

"It's a legend," Coyote corrected, "Mortals have just as absurd sounding legends to, but there is always a grain of truth in them, especially as many members of my race appear in most of your legends."

"Okay, I didn't mean to mock," Beth said back.

"According to the legend, the most powerful of the group feared that magics inherent in the rock were too powerful to be left to humanity or the gargoyles and moved the rock to a secret location to protect it," Coyote continued.

"Avalon," Arthur spoke.

Coyote nodded, "It was an old legend. One that I never really believed or spent much time looking into, but this rock changes things. Power, magical power is glowing from it."

"As you said earlier, all legends have some grain of truth in them," Merlin commented, "and it could be a logical explanation for the origins of the Third Race. Magic is not a natural phenomenon that beings manipulate on their own. The sensitivity to magic forces may be natural, but wielding it isn't. That's why humans and gargoyles require some other object that has absorbed magical energies. This power source, must have been so massive that when your ancestors came in contact with it that their bodies began to absorb the energy because there was simply so much of it."

Coyote then sighed, "Maybe, but as I said earlier, I never really wondered about the origins of my race."

"Can we take the rock with us?" Beth asked, "maybe you could show it to Titania when all of this is over. Before going back to Arizona."

"It should be safe," Coyote shrugged, "That rock isn't as big as the rock in the legend. It should be safe to carry."

Beth nodded, and then placed the rock in her pocket. As she did so, Una returned.

"There is a village about half a mile in that direction," Una reported pointing, "It looks rather run down, but still inhabited. The path that lead us up the hill should lead us to the village. As I suspected the trees are thick enough that I couldn't see the ground well enough to tell you whether or not the road is mined."

"We'd best get going, then," Arthur commented, "we wouldn't want the sun to come up before we get there or before you're ready for it."

"I will likely return here to the ruin when it gets close to dawn," Una answered, "You needn't worry about me."

Arthur nodded and let Rachel take the lead as they began to head down the path again. The journey down the hill toward he village took longer then the journey up the hill. Largely because there were more mines on this part of path, several of them interconnected with trip wires. As the village began to come into view in the distance, they also found several craters where mines had been.

"They likely have wounded in that village," Beth gasped looking at the craters where the mines had exploded, "or dead."

"Perhaps you can help them," Rachel offered before stopping and beginning to change back to her human form.

"Is that a smart idea?" Merlin asked, "Una's already gone back to the ruins, what if there are more mines?"

"I do not see anymore mines," Rachel answered, "and its doubtful this village knows much about werewolves. Having me appear in this form would scare people, unless you can convince them I'm some domestic dog."

"With that chest it'd be rather hard," Beth commented, sounding slightly envious.

"I can easily solve your jealousy problem if you want," Rachel told her has she pulled her normal clothes out of a pack that Arthur carried for her.

"No thanks," Beth answered nervously, "Just wanting to point out that your wolf form doesn't look like a large wolf. More like a wolf crossed with a human, or a wolf-like gargoyle minus the wings."

Rachel only nodded and finished dressing.

"Anyway, as I said before, I don't see any more mines," Rachel spoke, "the rest of the path should be clear."

**The Village**

The father was up with the dawn, and found his daughter sleeping quietly in her bed. He expected another hard day of work, just to survive inside a village that for years had essentially been cut off from the world. He was about to set about making himself some breakfast when he heard a commotion coming from outside his home. He came out to see a crowd gathering on the east edge of the village.

"What's going on? Is it soldiers?" the man asked as he approached.

Another man pointed out down the dirt path and he looked out to see a group of people walking down it toward the village. All of them looked European or American. One of the woman had a skin tone similar to there's, but not exactly the same, and she was still dressed like an American.

"They came through the mines," one of the villagers spoke.

As they came closer, a middle aged man with graying brown hair stepped forward.

"Good day, I am Arthur Dragon," Arthur spoke introducing himself, deciding to use his assumed name in the modern era, even though these people likely didn't know who 'Arthur Pendragon' was, "we are travelers who have come a long way, and were wondering if we could stop and rest here for a short while?"

"You came through the mines!" several villagers spoke in amazement.

The father sighed and then began physically moving the surprised people away to get to the man that had identified himself as Arthur.

"All right everyone," he spoke firmly, "Let them have some air. Go about your work. I will find out how they arrived here."

The gathered people gave a collective sigh and shuffled back toward their homes. The father then turned back to the group of new arrivals.

"You'd best come with me," the father spoke, "we can talk in peace and you can relax a bit."

"Are you the mayor, here?" Beth asked.

"As close as our village will get to any sort of government, yes," the father answered.

He lead the group back to his home and then to the small room that served as his kitchen and living room.

"I will have to ask you to keep it down," the father spoke, "my daughter is still sleeping."

They nodded and followed him into the kitchen. Like everything else in the village it looked old and slightly run down, and other then the chair that the 'mayor' of this village had sat down in, there was only one other chair there.

"How far have you traveled?" the father asked.

"A lot longer then you'd likely believe," Merlin answered, "Mostly to try and see what we can do to help anyone in need. We have a mother ship in the South China Sea. We then entered a river that passes near here in a smaller raft."

"You travel to commit acts of charity?" the father asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Arthur answered, "These are my 'crew', Merlin, Beth, Rachel, and Coyote. We have another, but she is guarding our raft."

The father nodded, "Well, your group as done something of great surprise by coming into our village."

"A pleasant one, I hope," Coyote commented.

"Indeed," the father nodded in agreement, "No one who has left our village has ever come back."

"I assume you're referring to the mines that we had to remove on the way here?" Merlin asked.

"It all began a long time ago," the father sighed, "I was just a boy then, but things were not calm. The Khmer Rouge thought everyone should be a farmer or laborer. They bought weapons and took over the country. After doing so, they began moving people from the cities onto these sorts of small villages and began killing anyone who didn't work or dared talk of resisting."

"My parents followed the news reports," Beth commented, "It must have been very hard to survive."

"It was," the father answered, "My parents died soon after we were moved here, and if it weren't for my older brothers, I would have died soon after."

Coyote and the others looked on with some sadness and respect.

Then the fighting between Vietnam and Khmer Rouge began," the father continued, "the government here didn't want the Vietnamese to free us, and laid mines around the village and then left before they arrived. Then they left."

"I take it no one arrived to clear the mines," Arthur commented, "considering that there are still mines in the area."

"This village was away from the main Vietnamese axis of advance and the mines were laid so thick that the few villagers who have tried to escape, have either been killed by the mines or have been so gravely wounded that they couldn't move any further," the father sighed, "and considering the problems likely faced whenever the Khmer Rouge was forced out of power, I doubt anyone has had the time to send engineers here to clear the mines."

"We're sorry your village has suffered so," Coyote spoke.

"Your arrival has eased our burdens, if you cleared the mines," the father spoke.

"We cleared the ones on the road," Coyote answered, "We couldn't see any in the forest."

"It does get dark among the trees when the sun sets, and our village really doesn't use the area outside our rice fields for anything," the father reported, "Although, I must ask, how did you dispose of the mines?"

"I have very good eyesight, and I was able to spot them to allow the others to dig them out with a long tree branch," Rachel shrugged, "Took quite a while to accomplish."

"I can imagine," the father answered, "but we are thankful. You've cleared one of two ways in and out of our village. If you are here to help, I would ask that you help with the clearing of the other minefield along the road in the other direction."

"We'll try," Arthur offered, "do you have any shovels or scissors?"

"Shovels we have plenty of," the father answered, "Scissors we have none of them. The Khmer Rouge never thought they were worthy of farm workers, and we were cut off since their rule."

"We'll have to make due," Arthur sighed, "but if we could relax a little before clearing these mines, that would be most appreciated."

The father nodded, " I do not mind."

They spent much of the morning resting, and were eventually involved in explaining their story again both to their host's daughter and to a few other townsfolk who got curious and came to visit. Shortly after noon, they gathered up some shovels that their host had gathered for them to borrow and briefly spoke with him before heading to work.

"How deep is the minefield?" Coyote asked.

"I do not know," their host answered, "some have tried to cross it, but most have died. If any survived, I doubt they decided to come back and tell us how deep it is."

They nodded and then gave a heavy sigh and began walking toward the path leading into the trees west of the village and the mines just inside them.

"Can you still see well, even in human form?" Beth asked as they walked, unsure as how to use the shovel to uncover mines, as Coyote did all the work of dealing with them on their way to the village.

"If I change only my eyes," Rachel answered, "although that can be rather difficult to maintain for long, as I'd need to transform enough for my eyes to change, but hold back enough that I don't start to obviously lose my preset form."

"I can easily find them in a more discrete manner," Coyote spoke confidently, "although it will take awhile to focus on things."

"You're certain you can do this?" Merlin asked.

"The technology may be different from what I'm most used to, but it isn't Iron," Coyote replied, "So long as we go slow, I can find them."

The others then shared a slow nod, and let Coyote take the lead as the approached the point where the path went into the forest. They saw several craters that indicated that mines had been tripped by something or someone, but the approach was slow as Coyote began channeling his own powers to try and sense the mines before they could be stepped on.

"Will they get rid of the mines?" the daughter asked nervously from the edge of the village, "They won't die, will they?"

"I don't know," her father answered, "I wouldn't think so, since they've cleared the mines to the east of us."

Dealing with these mines was long and labor intensive. Partially because a couple of the villagers were initially watching, and partially because Coyote's task was now expanded to include finding the mines and turning them into duds so the others could dig the mines out. They also found a fair number of craters that had indicated a past mine explosion.

"It's just awful what they did," Beth commented as they moved past a series of craters to where Coyote had indicated the next group of un-tripped mines were, "these people being trapped in their village."

"It's nothing new," Arthur sighed as he began digging up a mine that Coyote had marked, "of course, in my time, they simply had armed men present, not these traps that are impartial to anyone."

They continued on until nearly dusk when they finally reached a point where Coyote could not sense any more mines.

"You're sure they're gone?" Rachel asked.

"On the road yes," Coyote answered, "This should clear the way for the people her to journey in search of the help needed to clear the mines in the forest itself."

"We did good then," Arthur nodded, "These people are now free."

**The Village**

The group returned in the late evening and reported to the father's house to return the shovels and report on their success.

"The mines are clear, sir," Arthur reported, "you should be able to send someone for help tomorrow."

The man smiled, "This is wonderful news. You've freed us, after years of being trapped."

"The mines in the forest are still there," Arthur warned, "You might want to try and get in contact with your government to see if they can send engineers to clear the mines."

The father nodded, still smiling, "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm afraid I do not have much."

"No, thank you," Arthur spoke politely, "We need to get back to our boat, and rendezvous with the last member of our team. It was a pleasure to meet you though."

"The pleasure is ours, since you freed us," the father spoke after Arthur as the group slowly began walking to regroup with Una.

**The End…**


	27. Alpha and Omega

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place three weeks after "Old Wars".

Alpha and Omega

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**The Skiff**

They came out of the mists to find themselves on a rather clean looking lake surrounded by tall mountains. It looked like some post card from Switzerland.

"Where are we?" Beth asked as she looked around.

"I would think this is Switzerland," Merlin commented, "judging by the few buildings I can see on the mountains. We must be near a resort area."

"Or the major city is behind one of the mountain faces," Rachel added, "It is in the Alps."

"We'd best paddle to shore and see if we can find a place to hide Una, or at least come up with a convincing explanation as to why we arrived in a lake in a wooden skiff with a stone gargoyle in it," Arthur spoke carefully.

"We could say we're transporting it for someone," Rachel offered.

"We'd need to have someone waiting at the water's edge with the equipment to hoist Una's body," Coyote commented, "unless the Swiss are completely accepting of werewolves."

Rachel only sighed as they began paddling to shore.

"Couldn't you hide her, Coyote?" Beth asked the southwestern fey, "use your magic?"

"I suppose," Coyote shrugged, "although if Una were to suddenly disappear, anyone who's seen her will suddenly wonder what happened to her."

"I don't think we have much choice," Merlin spoke up, "I don't see a place where we can hide Una."

The group then looked up to see the shore they were approaching. It appeared rather rocky and had a road next to it. There didn't appear to be any traffic on it at the moment, but it also meant that any other sort of explanation for the presence of a stone gargoyle in a skiff, would be ludicrous. Coyote realized this and slowly cast a small illusion spell rendering Una invisible, even to the members of the skiff. Arthur and Merlin looked nervously at where Una had been, while Rachel tentatively stuck her hand out to still feel the cool granite like texture of Una's stone-skin.

"She's still there," Coyote spoke, "it'll wear off at sunset."

Arthur and the others nodded and kept paddling toward the shore. As they got closer they saw what looked like a van stop directly ahead of them. The driver then got out and stood the closest to the shore.

"Someone's stopped," Rachel commented, "He's seen us."

"Hopefully he hasn't seen Una," Arthur sighed, "because I think our only believable excuse is that we're tourists."

"We wouldn't have had to 'rent' a boat, would we?" Beth asked, not knowing really where they were other then Merlin and Rachel's guess and not knowing the local laws.

"I don't know," Merlin sighed.

They slowly brought the skiff to the shoreline where the man was waiting by his van.

"Are you folks alright?" the man asked, "it seems rather early for tourist season."

"It was a bit of a dare on our part," Coyote commented, "our chaperones here are only along to make sure we don't kill ourselves."

Both Beth and Rachel glanced at Coyote, resenting the 'excuse' that the three of them on a dare had gone out onto an unknown lake, probably at a time when they shouldn't have, and had dragged two chaperones along with them. Neither of them said anything, however.

"I don't believe there are any laws about when one can go boating," the man answered slowly, although he sounded unsure, "it just seemed odd to me that you would be out here in that little thing."

"It is all we were able to bring out," Rachel commented.

"Where are you parked?" the man asked.

"Across the lake," Beth replied, pointing to the other side.

The man looked at them and then looked up toward the western horizon. After looking out at the sun for a few moments he then turned his attention back to the passengers of the skiff.

"You came from across the lake?" the man gasped, sounding shocked, "You'll never make it back in time for supper. I insist you come with me. I'll get you good food, and for small fee, I'll drive you back to your vehicle."

"Fee?" Arthur asked.

"I frown on hitch-hikers," the man answered, "If you pay, we could consider it a taxi service. And the fee wouldn't be high. Only a few shillings."

Arthur looked on that as being suspicious, as he didn't think Switzerland, their most likely location used the English 'Pound' as its currency, but they also weren't in much of a position to refuse any help. It would be sunset in a little while and they had to insure that no one was around for Una's awakening.

"What about a night?" Arthur asked, "if the lake is too dangerous to boat on at night, perhaps you could offer us a room or too, and we'll boat back tomorrow. How much would it cost us for that?"

"Only a shilling or two more," the man responded in a tone that made the others nearly as suspicious of him as Arthur was, "Hop in."

"This must be why we're here," Coyote whispered to Arthur, "Find out what this guy is up to, and stop him."

**Elsewhere**

"What is it?" Six grumbled as he was dragged into a briefing room inside a hidden Illuminati base.

He had been trying to catch up on some much needed sleep when a mid-ranked technician woke him up and literally pulled him to the room they were now in.

"I'm sorry, sir, but something has come up that I thought you should know," the man responded nervously, "We have Pendragon."

Six's eyes immediately looked extremely excited.

"You have him?" Six exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me he had appeared?"

"He just appeared on a lake about five miles from here," the man responded, "Brox sent in a secret radio signal to indicate that he picked them up and is initiating the trap plan should any unwanted individual find our base."

"Does he know who Brox is?" Six asked.

"No, I wouldn't think so," the man replied, "Brox will lead them to a point where they can't help but stumble in. Our men can then jump him."

"How many men do you have available?" Six questioned.

"About four squads of commandos and six dozen automated defenses," the man replied, "Arthur is not likely to survive, and Merlin and his werewolf will be captured."

That made Six sigh with a confident smile. He had been working with the Illuminati trying to put an end to Arthur Pendragon's interference in Illuminati affairs, and so far, the 'Once and Future King' had either beaten them or the attempt to get him had missed. But now, he had stumbled into their base.

"I will be overseeing Pendragon's capture," Six spoke in a confident voice, "It will be good to see that thorn in our side finally be captured."

"Of course, sir," the man nodded.

**Mountaintop Cottage**

The man who had offered them a ride had taken them to a small cottage, that looked like it was built more for the tourist business then as someone's private home, with similar homes built on the mountainside where the ground was sturdy enough to support them. The drive was a pleasant one and the towns they could see or drove by were picturesque, but Arthur continued to have a nagging feeling that there was more to their driver then met the eye.

"I have a few chores to take care of before dinner will be ready," the man announced as he parked the car and everyone got out, "the guest rooms are on the second floor, and you're free to look around the grounds. The door to the basement, though, is off-limits."

"Of course," Arthur answered as he then lead the group into the cottage and then up a flight of stairs.

They were silent for a short while before Arthur spoke when he was certain that their driver couldn't hear him.

"I do not trust that man," Arthur spoke as quietly as possible, "Showing up out of nowhere and offering to give us a lift for a small fee."

"Maybe he runs the local taxi service," Beth suggested.

Arthur shook his head, "The area is too rural. The towns we passed are all very small. Too small to support a taxi service. The public transportation around here is likely to be a bus providing service to the tourists."

"He also wanted us to pay with English currency," Rachel added, "And unless we're somewhere in Scotland, the English Pound is pretty much worthless here if it isn't exchanged into the current Swiss currency. They might have even switched over to this new European currency they've been developing I've seen some reports on. The Euro, I think it was called."

"So, what do you think he's up too?" Beth asked, "For all we know, he's simply crazy."

"Something about him seems quite sane," Arthur answered, "He simply strikes me as someone with a secret."

They then entered a large guest room that had a two rows of beds and colored cloth divider hanging from the ceiling. The group went about placing the belongings they had with them on the beds before continuing their conversation.

"So, what is the plan?" Rachel asked as she set the small bag she carried with her on one of the beds.

"For now it would be best to simply look around here, see if we can find anything that might reveal what this man is really doing," Arthur spoke, "although it is also important that we not make our 'host' suspicious of us."

There was a brief silence for a few moments before Arthur continued.

"Once that has been done," Arthur continued, "we'll see what we can do about checking out this basement that he has."

"What about Una?" Coyote inquired, "She'll be up soon."  
"Can you bring her here?" Arthur asked, "or at least give her gliding directions."

Coyote nodded, "I can bring her here easily, if you can make sure our host doesn't notice my absence."

"He said we could wander about the house and the grounds," Merlin commented, "I'm sure he expects us to stay close, but I don't think he knows about your powers as a member of the Third Race."

Coyote nodded and then disappeared in a brief flash of green light leaving the others alone. After a moment or two, Arthur slowly began walking toward the stairs.

"I suppose it is now time for us to act like tourists," Arthur spoke while the others nodded and began to follow him.

**By the Lake**

The sun meanwhile continued its descent in the western horizon until it finally began to set and cracks began to appear in Una's stone form, although for the moment, no one could see them. As the sun set further, the cracks grew larger, until Una finally stretched her wings and awakened for the night. She found she was alone in the skiff with Coyote standing nearby on a rather rocky looking shoreline on the edge of a road.

"Where are we?" Una asked as she climbed out of the skiff.

"Arthur and Merlin think we're somewhere in Switzerland," Coyote answered, "but they do not know exactly where."

Una then nodded.

"We'd best move though," Coyote spoke and then took Una by the shoulders and both disappeared just as a car rounded the corner, its driver slowing down to wipe his eyes at what he had just seen.

**The Cottage**

Meanwhile, Arthur and the others were finding to situation to be weirder and weirder. When they came downstairs they found that the man who had driven them there had practically vanished and couldn't be seen anymore. He wasn't in the cottage's small kitchen, nor was he on the cottage's lawn. It was if he had left them there, and this made Arthur even more suspicious.

"This has to be a trap," Arthur grumbled as he moved into a small living room where Merlin and Beth were already seated.

Both of them looked up.

"He isn't here," Arthur explained, "Not inside, not outside."

"So, he's trying to catch us," Beth sighed, "what could he want? Your sword maybe?"

"I don't know," Arthur sighed, "Given the circumstances, I'd think he's an Illuminatus and simply wants to defeat me for whatever odd reason that organization has decided that I am a threat to their global domination."

"We don't have any proof of that," Merlin warned him, "but I do agree that the current circumstances are rather suspicious. Our host should still be here."

"He might be, just not where we expected him to be," Rachel spoke as she entered the room, "I traced his scent to a door near the stairs. It's likely the basement that he said he didn't want us wandering into. I'd say that whatever he's hiding, he's hiding it down there."

"Did you find anything else?" Arthur asked, "any sort of clue?"

"I didn't have any more luck then you," Rachel sighed, "If this guy truly is hiding something, he's done a good job of it. No loose papers, no account books. Likely in this basement of his… although I've never heard of buildings like this having basements."

"Weird," Beth sighed, "What could he be hiding, though?"

"I don't know," Arthur sighed, "although, I suppose that is what we're here to find out."

Merlin was about to ask something when there was a sudden flash of light and Coyote and Una appeared in the room. The white unicorn-like gargoyle was somewhat startled by the appearance of the room she was now in.

"You can relax," Merlin spoke up, "Our host has apparently left us alone, leaving everyone a bit suspicious."

"Do you have any clue as to what he is hiding or where he went?" Una asked after a moment.

"Not specifically, but we believe he went into the basement of this building," Arthur replied, "We'll get our answers there, and we were waiting for you and Coyote to return."

Una then nodded and then turned to Beth, "And do you feel up to coming with us? Or would you prefer to wait here?"

Beth looked up nervously as all eyes then turned to her. She hadn't really thought of that. She couldn't really hide, as if the others needed medical help, she was the only one who could provide it, but at the same time, she was not the warrior that her older brother and sister. Elisa had taught her some self-defense moves, but not enough for her to be confident about fighting many of the opponents that Arthur might be facing.

"I'll go, but I'll keep to the rear," Beth spoke after a few moments, "You'll need a medic if this guy is armed or really knows how to fight."

"Are you sure?" Coyote asked, "they could come after you."

Beth sighed, "I know, but Elisa taught me a few basic moves. I can defend myself if someone tries to grab me. I won't go charging at anyone though."

"Okay," Coyote answered slowly, "Just be sure to be careful."

Beth nodded as the others stood up and began moving toward the door that lead to the basement that they were told was 'off limits'.

**Elsewhere**

Six, meanwhile quietly walked down a hallway of the base he was in. Commandos were lining corners and all possible routes from which Pendragon and his allies might attack from. He felt confident in dealing with Arthur this time. His men were prepared and in the enclosed space with Merlin powerless, he held the advantages over the 'Once and Future King'. His werewolf ad the female gargoyle would present some problems, but Six was confident that they could be overwhelmed and that the others with Arthur posed no threat.

As he rounded a corner, Six bumped into the a man he had been hoping to meet. Arthur's present 'host' at the mountain top cottage. The man looked slightly out of breath, but he bowed to Six respectfully.

"Well, Decoy," Six spoke as authoritatively as possible, "How did it go?"

"Things have gone quite well," the man, identified as 'Decoy', answered, "Pendragon already suspicious of me, and I made sure that those suspicions would not be eased upon arrival at the cottage."

"I trust he does not know of our presence here and believes you are on your own?" Six questioned.

Decoy nodded, "Of that, I am certain. I have no paperwork around that would link me to the Illuminati. But he is suspicious that I am up to something and will likely 'follow' me to try and find out what I am 'hiding'."

"And your certain his suspicions will lead him here?" Six asked carefully.

"Of course," Decoy answered, "He suspects that whatever I am 'hiding' is in my basement. When he breaks into it, expecting to find me, you can lock him and his companions in the tunnel that leads here and force him into a fight he can not win. At that point, it won't matter if his suspicions lead him here or not. He will have no choice."

Six only nodded again with complete confidence in final victory. He then turned to look at Decoy who was patiently waiting for orders.

"You may go for now," Six ordered, "although I would advise leaving by means of a different exit."

"Of course, my lord," Decoy bowed and quickly hurried on.

**Cottage Basement Door**

The door easily fell to the ground from a strong kick delivered by Rachel, who had transformed in preparation for the eventual confrontation. What was the surprising thing was the sound made by the door when it hit the ground. It landed with the ringing sound of hitting something metal, and as they slowly made their way down the stairs, they found themselves in a long metal hallway.

"And here is the obvious reason why he didn't want us down here," Merlin commented as he looked down the hallway.

"More likely this is a trap," Arthur spoke gravely, "The hallway is narrow and underground. Una can't glide, and if they're armed with rifles, Excalibur won't do anyone any good."

"I can raise a shield should this guy try to use us as a shooting gallery," Coyote told him, "which should force him to try a direct conflict, which I'd think we'd be better at."

They slowly began walking down the hall when a sudden hissing noise made them stop and look behind them. To their surprise, a large metal door had shut behind them, which looked very thick and sturdy.

"He knows we're here," Rachel commented while Arthur drew out an electric blaster that Macbeth had loaned him before they left.

Arthur only looked down at the weapon he had drawn. Macbeth had loaned it to him for instances like this, but Arthur still didn't have to like it. He preferred Excalibur, but it wasn't like the sword was good for non-lethal attacks. They then began slowly walking down the hallway before the Beth noticed something painted onto the sides of the wall as they walked.

"I don't think this guy is alone," Beth spoke up and pointed to what she saw.

The others quickly turned and looked at what the woman was pointing at. The group was soon shocked at what they saw. It was a small security camera, which in itself wasn't shocking, but image on the side of it was, and that was the insignia of he Illuminati.

"At least we now know who has set the trap," Arthur sighed after a moment.

"Maybe this is that 'Site Omega' and we can finally get what Arthur needs to cure him of what the Illuminati did to him," Rachel spoke up, placing a paw on Arthur's shoulder.

"It could be," Arthur nodded, and turned to the others, "although if that is true, it means that the fight to beat the trap will be even tougher."

"With the Unseelies defeated, the Illuminati has lost the forces that it could call on to defeat the Third Race," Coyote spoke, "and even with their sorcerers, I don't sense any Iron here. If their numbers threaten to overwhelm us, I think I can get us out."

Arthur then turned to Beth, who was unarmed and standing behind the southwestern fey.

"I'll be fine," Beth spoke, "Coyote can keep me safe, and I won't be getting into the middle of anything."

"You may already be in the middle of everything," Una warned her, "staying low may not keep you completely safe."

"I know," Beth nodded, "but it doesn't look like I have much of choice at the moment, don't I? If I leave they may send someone to the cottage to get me, and if I stay, I'll face the same fight you're facing."

Una and Arthur slowly nodded while Rachel turned to Coyote turned to Coyote for the moment.

"Isn't there something that you could do to even the odds for her?" Rachel asked, "Something that doesn't involve taking away her humanity?"

Coyote glanced at Beth for a moment and then spoke, "I suppose I could take what limited knowledge of martial arts Elisa taught her and make her an expert at it in terms of every type of martial arts. Going from a white belt to the highest level of black belt would be something."

"It'd put me above Elisa's skill level, although with a gargoyle's strength, I don't think Elisa would care," Beth commented, "go ahead."

Coyote's eyes only flashed green for a moment before he said, "done."

Six quietly watched from a control room that allowed him to monitor the progress his enemies made. He had two aids with him, who were only there to monitor the equipment as he monitored the battle. Something already seemed to be going wrong, but it didn't appear to be to the point where he would lose yet.

"They know about this instillation," the first aide spoke nervously.

"And they've learned how to defeat the spell you performed on Merlin," the other aide added.

"I can see that," Six answered as he watched them walk down a hallway, "Merely the result of Arthur's earlier victories over us. The real question is the dark haired young man."

"He doesn't appear armed," the first aide commented.

"He doesn't have to be," Six replied, "he is at least a sorcerer, and possibly a member of the Third Race."

Six then turned around to see both aides looking nervously at the screens.

"Oh try to relax," Six groaned, "the fey are vulnerable to Iron. If he is a fey, we can stab him with an Iron weapon and that will kill him. And if he isn't a fey, it isn't likely that he's immortal, so it shouldn't matter what kind of weapon we hit him with. He'll die all the same."

Six then returned his gaze to the screen. Dealing with the one they called 'Coyote' would be tough, but Six actually didn't want him dead. If he was in fact a fey, Six felt there was an opportunity to gain a powerful warrior that could aide them in some of their other battles. Particularly the battle in China against Khan. But, for the time being, he could only hope that his security measures could defeat the group.

They followed a long tunnel that seemed to spiral downward before they came to an opening that seemed to go in two directions with several side hallways in it. Coyote was actually the first to step out of the descending hallway when he was forced back by several bullets that flew past his face, missing him by a couple of inches.

"Great, guys with guns," Coyote grumbled and sent a pair spells that would hopefully turn the guns into something harmless.

The first row of Illuminati commandos kept their guns aimed at the entrance into the main part of the base. They were determined to set up a dead zone and catch all of the intruders quickly. They were unprepared, however, for a series of green spheres that flew out and then toward them, bouncing off walls and the ceiling as they went. The commandos tried to dodge the attacks, but they zeroed in on their weapons and upon contact, turned their guns into salt. Coyote then re-entered the hallway.

"No guns in an enclosed space," Coyote spoke as if he were scolding and taunting children simultaneously, "people could get hurt."

"Get him!" the first commando screamed and rushed forward.

Coyote only vanished for a moment as the first three commandos ran into each other and knocked each other out. The others were quick to follow. Una entered the hallway first and threw a small satchel at one group of advancing commandos. The satchel exploded releasing a gas that coated the commandos, and those that breathed it in quickly fell unconscious.

Arthur followed behind with the electric blaster ready and fired a series of blasts at three commandos charging toward him. Two commandos were hit directly and were thrown back, out cold, while the third managed to dodge the blasts. His dodging, however, didn't help him all that much, as Arthur caught him with a powerful blow with his other hand that knocked the commando the ground at his feet. The commando tried to get up when Rachel grabbed him by the back of his gear and slammed him into the wall, which knocked him out.

"Can never be too careful," Rachel told him, winking one golden eye.

Rachel then continued down the hallway, using her powerful legs to bound from wall to wall and pouncing on any commando that tried to attack her. This earned her a few elbows to the ribs and some kicks to her feet, but she had found that nearly all of these commandos were normal humans, allowing her to recover from their attacks. Her only real tough task was to make sure that none of them were nicked by her claws as she didn't want to spread her condition.

Beth and Merlin were the last two to enter the area and both held back. For Beth it was her unease with combat and for Merlin it was a mix between his weakened state and the fact the others were doing fairly well on their own. Una had already knocked out several commandos with her 'sleep dust', and was easily able to overpower the remaining commandos in the hallway she was in. Coyote was using his fey powers to appear and disappear at will, or move far to fast for the commandos near him to easily catch up, and they ended up running into each other or into the walls to be much of a threat.

"That looked rather easy," Beth commented as she looked at the unconscious commandos lying on the floor.

"Nothing with the Illuminati is ever easy," Merlin warned, "and we've only just entered their little house of horrors. No doubt this place is booby-trapped."

Beth only shuddered nervously while the group began to gather again near the entrance to the facility they were in.

"So what do we do?" Beth asked.

"I guess we choose a hall and go down it," Arthur shrugged.

**Control Room**

"Oh no you don't," Six growled as Arthur went to go down a hallway, and pressed a button that activated a series of traps.

Six then patiently watched as the hallways rearranged themselves and moved about, startling the group he was watching, and nearly killing Arthur. The commandos had failed in stopping Arthur by keeping him in a crossfire and engaging him on multiple fronts, now Six would have to depend on what robotic defenses Site Omega had to keep Pendragon from learning many of the secrets the instillation housed.

But, even though the commandos had failed, they had at least provided Six with some information gathering. The young man that accompanied the second young woman in the group was most certainly a fey, likely of the Seelie Court. And if the name 'Coyote' was accurate, a moderately powerful fey who had strong ties to the American desert southwest and the Maza family. That meant that the young woman that had joined Arthur was Beth Maza, as her only other female sibling was a gargoyle in New York. Why she had sided with Arthur was unknown to Six, but he made a mental note to bring these findings to the Council and see that Elisa Maza and her family paid for the youngest sibling's decision to rebel against Illuminati rule.

**Hallway**

Arthur was startled to say the least as the walls of the site seemed to suddenly move, leaving them with one passageway to follow.

"At least the decision making portion of this exercise is over," Coyote commented with a chuckle.

"Yes," Arthur sighed, "and into the trap we go."

They then walked forward when a door ahead of them opened and what looked like two remote control helicopters flew out and began firing a barrage of laser fire on them. The shots were poorly aimed and Coyote was quick to raise a shield that deflected the blasts, while Arthur returned fire from the electric blaster he had. The first drone was easily destroyed, but the second one avoided the blast and flew back into the room from which it came.

"After it!" Arthur urged as they rushed forward into a very dark room.

The drone didn't need light, however, and it waited until everyone was in the room and then fired and hit Una in the back, making her stagger forward. The white unicorn-like gargoyle gave a slight pained cry while Rachel turned and shredded the drone with her claws.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked as he helped Una up.

"I'll be fine," Una answered slowly, "Just shaken, is all."

She then looked up to get a better look at the room they were in and was startled by what she saw.

"My word…!" Una gasped.

Inside several glass tanks were gargoyle hatchlings, some of them English, some Scottish, one was Roman, and there was another whose nationality Una couldn't identify.

"They've been…?" Una gasped nervously.

"They're still alive," Coyote spoke looking at one of them, "but their in some form of suspended animation of some sort… mostly magically generated though, not technological."

"Technological means at the preset time would kill a living being," Merlin commented, "can you free them?"

"I think so, but it will take some effort," Coyote spoke, "I don't think I can go any further with you."

"I will stay with you," Una spoke, "They'll need to see a gargoyle's face when they awaken… if you can awaken them."

"We'll manage," Arthur answered, "Just be careful. Those tanks could be booby trapped."

Una and Coyote both nodded.

Arthur then lead Merlin, Rachel, and Beth back into the hallway and found that more drones had appeared there. Once again, the drones fired on them forcing them to dodge or attack the drones to prevent themselves from taking hits. Arthur drew Excalibur and easily sliced two drones in half while firing on a third with the electric blaster. Rachel took a few glancing shots off her arms, but managed to crush two drones fairly quickly. Merlin managed a few weak 'fire' spells that brought down three more drones, all in flames, while Beth found herself dodging and twisting as the drones fired on her.

Beth found the whole thing strange and strangely exhilarating. She was moving and twisting in ways she never thought possible for her without years of training, and was doing so almost by instinct. Evidently, Coyote's spell had worked, and as she dodged, she lead the two drones targeting her to eventually fire on each other and ending the drone threat.

"Impressive," Arthur commented with a slight smile.

"Amazing in a weird sort of way," Beth commented, "Never thought I'd do something like that instinctively."

**Control Center**

Six growled as he continued watching the security footage. They had now destroyed all of the drones and Coyote and the gargoyle had discovered the gargoyle specimens that the Illuminati had collected over the centuries for either research and or preservation of gargoyle genetics. The loss of those specimens and their continued defeats at the hands of Goliath's clan in New York would hurt many of the Illuminati's other plans, and with the commandos out cold and now the drones destroyed, there was now no one besides himself who could defend Site Omega.

Six then turned to the two aides in the room with him.

"Remain here to monitor the battle," Six ordered, "and send word to the Council. We will likely need reinforcements."

"Yes, sir," the first aide answered.

"Where are you going, sir?" the second one asked nervously.

"To put an end to a rather annoying pest," Six growled angrily as he walked out, "That is all you need to know."

**Hallway**

Arthur lead the group slowly, as if expecting an ambush at any moment, while they checked rooms for anything that would look like the sand Merlin would need to cure himself. So far they had been unsuccessful. Either the rooms were libraries or bunk rooms, which had the unconscious commandos in them.

"It has to be around here, somewhere," Arthur spoke as they rounded a corner.

As he did, he came across a lone man in red robes waiting for them in the middle of he hallway.

"Looking for this?" Six asked as he raised a vial of the sand Merlin needed.

"You!" Merlin gasped, recognizing the voice.

"Is something wrong, my friend?" Arthur asked.

"That is the man who stole my powers from me," Merlin answered, "the exact same man."

Arthur looked at his teacher and then stepped forward with the electric blaster and Excalibur ready.

"So, this entire mess begins and ends with you," Arthur spoke in a firm voice, "I will not pretend to know why you've found me to be such a threat to you, but know that I have never made any pretense of opposing the Illuminati. Hand us the vile, and we will leave."

"Will you leave the Illuminati property that your friends are trying to free?" Six questioned.

"Those gargoyle hatchlings?" Beth gasped, "they're just little kids! You have no right to hold them here."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Six growled, "Your sister is already going to pay for your stupidity. There is no need for you to make me expand the list of people you will doom."

"Elisa can take care of herself," Beth retorted.

"But can you?" Six questioned and flung his arms out, throwing several large daggers toward the group.

Arthur and Rachel easily managed to step aside to avoid the flying projectiles, while Merlin and Beth were forced to dive away to avoid being hit. As she hit the floor, the glowing stone she had collected in Cambodia fell out of her pocket and skidded across the floor. Beth was quick to chase after it, which Six mistook for fleeing.

He did not get a chance to taunt, however, as Rachel charged forward, claws ready. Six ducked under the female werewolf's outstretched paws and landed a magically charged blow to her collar bone, which sent her skidding down the hallway away from the group. The move left him open to a charge of electric energy fired at him by the electric blaster Arthur had.

The blast hurt, and threw him into the wall, but Six managed to recover and fired a lighting spell of his own at Arthur, which destroyed the electric blaster in his hand.

"I can play with electricity as well, Arthur," Six spoke, "You're only hope is that sword of yours."

"And risk damaging Merlin's cure?" Arthur shot back, "or your followers deciding to set us up for murder? We'll find another way to beat you and get that vile."

Six only dropped down and tripped Arthur as the Once and Future King moved forward to try and grab the vial of sand that Six held. Six then pivoted to only take one of his own daggers in the shoulder. It made him cringe with pain and step back a few steps, and when he looked up, he saw Merlin standing there with the daggers he had thrown earlier orbiting around him.

"I could easily doom you to a life without your powers," Six threatened.

Merlin flung another telekinesis spell to throw another dagger at Six, forcing him to dodge the attack.

"And you would restore them if we surrendered?" Merlin questioned disbelievingly.

"No, as it is against protocol to empower our enemies," Six answered as he sent a blast of energy at Merlin which destroyed the daggers that Merlin was using.

Six then lunged forward and grabbed Merlin by the collar and lifted him into the air.

"You and your allies have been a thorn in our side," Six growled, "and now I will finally free of you!"

"NO!" Arthur and Rachel yelled in shock and horror, but knew they were too far away to prevent Six from killing Merlin.

Their scream made Beth look up as she recovered the glowing stone. She saw Six holding Merlin in the air, as if he was preparing to strangle the medieval wizard with his bare hands. Arthur and Rachel were too far away and even with the knowledge Coyote had given her, she couldn't do anything. She then glanced down at the glowing stone. Coyote said his people believed a stone like it to be the source of their own supernatural powers. She didn't believe it, but she didn't have much choice. She quickly grabbed the stone and pointed it at Six.

"GO AWAY!" Beth screamed as the stone's glow became brighter.

A green burst of energy suddenly rushed out of thee stone and threw Six into the wall, making him drop both Merlin and the vial of sand. Merlin dove in time to catch the vial while Six stood up, looking as though he were in a trance, and he slowly began walking away without saying a word. This left everyone slightly perplexed.

"I didn't expect that to work," Beth spoke after a moment or two, breaking the rather shocked silence.

"Do we go after him?" Rachel then asked looking down the hallway after Six.

"No," Arthur shook his head, "We have the sand that will allow us to cure Merlin. All we need to do is get him back to Stonehenge and figure out the curing spell."

Merlin nodded and turned to Beth specifically.

"It would look like there might be some truth behind the legend that Coyote told us about in Cambodia," Merlin commented, "there are powers inherent in that rock."

"But I'm nor sorceress," Beth protested, "I didn't really believe any of this 'magic' stuff was real until Elisa, Goliath, Angela, and Bronx showed up in Flagstaff during their world tour."

"You could very well have magical potential," Merlin commented, "Not everyone who physically able to do certain things actually does them, and since the concept of magic and sorcery drifted into the fringe area of society since the Middle Ages, it is very likely that in this case, you never knew you had the potential."

"This will be a dozy to explain to my folks," Beth sighed.

"You don't have to be a sorceress," Merlin commented, "We've already imposed a lot on you, we won't force anything more on you."

Beth looked on, still surprised about what had what had happened.

"We'd best discuss this elsewhere, before whatever spell you cast on Six wears off," Arthur spoke.

Meanwhile Una and Coyote had gotten all of the gargoyle hatchlings out of the containment units the Illuminati had them in. All of them were still breathing and their hearts were beating strong, but all of them appeared to be sleeping, like humans usually slept at night.

"I don't understand this," Una spoke, "they should wake. You took the spell that was keeping them there off of them."

Coyote cringed as the process of freeing the gargoyle hatchlings from the spell had actually been rather painful, but nothing he couldn't recover from in a few days.

"Perhaps they're tired," Coyote suggested, "even young gargoyles can get tired."

"But no gargoyle sleeps like this and certainly not at night," Una spoke nervously.

Coyote watched as Una carefully lifted up two of the hatchlings they had freed and sighed heavily.

"The spell used was rather strong," Coyote answered, "and I seemed to sense that it had to deal with the flow of time… I doubt even a gargoyle's natural strength could easily endure such a spell. For all we know, the spell may have blocked their stonesleep, and I doubt the Illuminati will willingly give us answers."

Una only sighed in response, "at least these hatchlings are safe."

It was at that time that Arthur and the others reappeared in the room. Coyote was quick to notice that Merlin was carrying a small vial and that Beth had a fairly nervous look on her face.

"I believe it is time for us to leave," Arthur spoke, "is there anything you need help with?"

**The Skiff, Shortly After Dawn**

It took them awhile to get everything, including the sleeping hatchlings to the skiff, who soon joined Una in stone sleep when the sun rose. There was great relief that Merlin had acquired what he needed to cure himself, but there was still some confusion over Beth's use of the stone that Coyote said had connections to the origins of the Third Race.

"I really don't want to be a witch, even if I'm a 'good witch'," Beth spoke to Coyote quietly as Arthur began pushing the skiff out into the water which was beginning to mist over.

"You don't have to be," Coyote responded.

"But how was I able to do that?" Beth questioned, "I've never had any training in magic."

"If my people's legend is true, the power of the stone compensated for that," Coyote commented, "as for the 'how', I believe your family has had great potential for mortal magic for many generations. This in itself is quite a story that would be better suited to a more private place."

Beth nodded slightly and then questioned, "I take it you know more then you've let on?"

"It's nothing super big, but could be personal," Coyote responded nervously, "Once we can get to a more private location, I can explain, if you want."

Beth nodded.

"It doesn't however mean that you have to practice magic," Coyote finished, "this doesn't change who you are."

Beth didn't answer that and only looked out as the mist surrounded them.

**Unknown Location**

"She is a sorceress?" Two asked nervously.

"She has to be," Six growled over a teleconference screen, "she made me walk away without any physical wound while also surrendering the sand to Merlin. I can think of no other reason for that besides sorcery."

Two frowned gave a frustrated sigh. The report that this half-African American, half-Native American woman doing magic wasn't that much of a problem in itself, but the fact that she had allowed Merlin to gain what he needed to cure himself threatened to undo the prophecies that the Mage had left behind.

"They'll need to return to Stonehenge to perform the spell," Two sighed, "We'd best prepare what commandos we have in Europe to prepare to Pendragon's arrival in England. Whatever punishment that is to be placed on the Mazas can wait. You are also to return to Site Alpha as the entire Council will need to discuss what is to come."

**To Be Continued…**


	28. Invasion

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Alpha and Omega".

Invasion

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Unknown Location**

The Illuminati Council sat in a nervous session as they tried to figure out to do after Arthur and his travelers invaded Site Omega and made off with the gargoyle hatchlings they had been preserving and the ingredients needed to restore Merlin's powers. This left the Illuminati with very few options available too them, and many of them they didn't want to consider.

"We can not allow Merlin to regain his powers!" Six said urgently, "We must do something."

"And what do we do?" Five countered, "Pendragon's group is moving around too chaotically for us to be able to track him. He's been spotted everywhere from Austria to Cambodia. And most recently in Switzerland. We can't even guess where he'll show up next."

"We do not need to follow Pendragon," Two spoke up, "the question is are we willing to do what is necessary to insure that he is ultimately defeated."

The other council members turned to face Two, who looked relatively calm.

"While they have the ingredients for Merlin's cure," Two began, "they must return to Stonehenge to perform the spell, which would mean returning to England."

"Are you saying we lay in wait on the Salisbury plain?" Four asked curiously.

"Not the Salisbury plain," Two answered, "that might give him some opportunity to bide his time until we lose interest, or martial forces necessary to distract us. No, I am saying we must wait in England for him."

"But we already control England," Six spoke up, "we control that country the same way we control every other country…"

"With the exception of Khan's holdings in China," One reminded the gathered Council members.

They all nodded.

"But covert rule will not allow us to grab Pendragon the instant he appears again in England," Two spoke, "he has no criminal record and was decorated and knighted by the Queen for his part in stopping Morgan Le Fey. We must take outright control of the country."

"Directly?" Three gasped, "that's never been done in the history of the Illuminati!"

"I don't think we have much choice in the matter," Two replied, "it's either that or let Pendragon save Britain one way or another, thus destroying the Mage's prophecies."

The others were silent for a few moments. Coming out into the open had never been done by the Illuminati, largely to leave the people's of the world with the notion that they controlled their own destiny. And if Tibet was a sign of anything, the world was not yet enlightened enough for them to come out into the open. But, the Mage's prophecies were important to the Illuminati's survival. And they had predicted the Illuminati saving Britain from some evil force. If Merlin regained his powers and Pendragon saved Britain, those prophecies would be broken, which they couldn't allow.

"Is there any other way we could track them?" Four asked nervously, "any other way?"

"We would need to have a lot of luck on our side, which we haven't had a lot of," Three commented, "if we can't track his movements, or predict when he will show up, we'll need to know where he needs to go to. And that is Stonehenge."

"So we directly take over England, then," Six spoke up, "do we know what will happen to the rest of Europe when we do this?"

"At best we can only guess," Two sighed, "more then likely, they'll end up having to fall into line as well. The Americans, thankfully probably won't even notice. They're too distracted by the chaos in China and other matters."

"Thankfully," One sighed, "It is decided then. We will take direct control over the British Isles. Two, Six, the two of you are to directly handle the affairs of taking the islands. You may use any means necessary."

**The Skiff**

Arthur quietly pushed the skiff along through Avalon's mists, not knowing where they were headed. He had hopes of returning to London, where they could plan restoring Merlin's powers to his old mentor, but Avalon wouldn't necessarily send him there for that reason.

"Have we arrived anywhere yet?" he heard Rachel asked as the woman woke up from a short power-nap she had been taking.

"Not yet," Arthur answered quietly, not want to disturb the others, "although the mist seems to be weakening. We might be emerging soon."

Almost as if on cue, the mist cleared and they found themselves looking at large white cliffs standing tall above waves crashing into them. The increased rocking of the skiff served to wake the others, except for Una who was still in stone sleep.

"Where are we?" Beth asked groggily, her eyes not fully open, yet.

"Dover," Rachel answered, "We're back in Britain."

"We can make our way to London fairly easily from here, then," Merlin commented as he stood up, "although, we should still wait for Una to wake up."

The others nodded in agreement.

"So where will we wait until then?" Beth asked curiously, "I'm sure the people will be surprised to see Una's statue in a little skiff like this."

"We're not at the city of Dover," Merlin corrected, as the port city wasn't in view, "but we are close, judging by the rock formation."

"We'd still need to go into the port if we are to disembark the normal way," Arthur spoke up, remembering back to the brief moments he and his knights had once held some political control in the region.

Merlin nodded in agreement.

"I suppose this is where I come into the conversation then," Coyote commented, and in a flash of green light, they vanished.

The group reappeared on top of the cliff looking down toward the waters of the English channel below. They could vaguely see the skiff sinking into the water. Rachel could see the city from that spot on the cliff side.

"There goes our ride home," Beth said to Coyote as they looked down to toward the Channel and the now sunken skiff.

"We can arrange a return flight Arizona for you when we get to London," Arthur offered, "and if not Arizona, at least to New York."

"Thank you, you're majesty," Beth nodded, "what will you do now?"

"First we'll return to London and see how things have gone since we've been gone," Arthur commented, "while Merlin and Una prepare Merlin's cure. From there, we'll probably end up driving to Salisbury to cure Merlin."

"Isn't that where Stonehenge is?" Beth asked, and then after the gathered British natives nodded, "isn't it only some sort of sundial?"

"That is the external function," Merlin answered, "but the stones are magically charged, expanding the powers of any sorcerer inside the formation."

"Never knew that," Beth spoke glancing to Coyote.

"Well, before the Illuminati used it on Merlin, it's probably been several millennia since anyone used Stonehenge for that purpose," Coyote commented.

Beth nodded as the sound of helicopter engines began to come within the range of their ears. The group turned to see several black helicopters fly overhead and head inland, toward London.

"What was that?" Rachel wondered aloud.

"Maybe some sort of maneuver," Merlin guessed, "although I didn't see any insignia on any of those helicopters."

**London**

Macbeth sat quietly at the main dinning table, drinking some tea, and reviewing the day's paper, now that his day of teaching was over. Things had remained rather quiet in London, but not without it's own worries. Although, much of that had to deal with waiting for Arthur and his group to return to London. He had just turned the page in the paper when he heard the phone ring. When he got up to answer it, he heard Arthur's voice on the other line.

"Macbeth?" Arthur inquired.

"Yes, I'm still here," Macbeth answered, "where are you?"

"Right now?" Arthur answered, "Dover. We'll be making our way back to London when the sun goes down."

"That will certainly be good news to the others," Macbeth commented, "although I will inform you that not much has gone on in London while you've been gone."

"I'm sure what we've run into makes up for it," Arthur answered, "We'll be there shortly."

"Did you get a cure for Merlin?" Macbeth asked curiously.

"Yes," Arthur answered, "We'll let you know more when we arrive."

"Very well," Macbeth answered, "We'll expect your return."

With that he hung up the phone and returned to the newspaper. He was grateful that so far things had gone successfully, as he knew from experience that quiet times didn't last for long.

**Warehouse, On the Docks**

"Why do we have to do this here?" Six grumbled as he slowly followed Two into an old warehouse that belonged to a company owned by an Illuminatus.

The warehouse was large and sufficiently quiet enough that they could operate in relative secrecy, but it didn't exactly look like the place that members of the Illuminati Council would operate out of.

"We are about to reveal our organization to another nation," Two answered, "when that happens, you can expect a certain amount of chaos If we were in more appropriate accommodations, we would likely get caught in that chaos, and would thus fail to capture or kill Pendragon when he returns."

"Still doesn't mean that I think this is the wrong spot," Six grumbled, "If Pendragon's London allies strike against us, they'd be more likely to strike here then against what would appear to be a more obvious target."

"More then likely they'll be drawn into the direct fighting that will result from our little proclamation," Two spoke confidently, "and even if they don't, their magicians are not here, which means we have the advantage."

Six slowly nodded. The London clan's only sorceress was Una, and she was with Pendragon as far as they knew, but Macbeth was still in London, and the Illuminati had long learned that the immortal Scottish king was not to be underestimated.

"What about Macbeth?" Six questioned, "his condition might make him somewhat resistant to our sorcery."

"Not enough that he can't be killed, temporarily," Two reminded him, "He will be taken prisoner and held there until we could find a way to get him and Demona to battle to the death of both of them."

Six sighed and nodded again, and then approached several large crates that were stacked in front of him. He raised one hand and said something in Latin. Six then watched as the lids to the crates came off and lay flat on the ground behind them. Once that was done, six took a closer look at the crates.

"Is everything there?" Two asked quietly.

Six turned back to face Two and nodded, "Yes, everything is here. Cameras, microphones, and the equipment needed to override every television signal in Britain. The jammers will likely also affect Ireland and parts of France an Belgium."

"France and Belgium are of no concern," Two commented, "and we may have to occupy Ireland as well. They're close enough to Britain that Pendragon could use the island as starting point to get into Britain."

Six nodded, "Then I guess we'd best get to work."

**Dover**

As the sun began to set, Arthur and his small group had moved back to give Una and the small gargoyle hatchlings they had liberated from Site Omega the room to awaken from their stone sleep. The sound of the young gargoyles awakening seemed almost cute as they tried to imitate Una's awakening cry. The young hatchlings, however, couldn't match the power of the adult gargoyle at the moment.

"Where are we?" Una asked as she turned to face the group.

"Dover," Arthur told her, "we're home, essentially."

Una nodded and then looked down toward the channel below them, as if looking for the skiff.

"The skiff sank into the channel shortly after we left it," Merlin spoke up, "likely returned to Avalon."

"These hatchlings are too young to begin formal gliding lessons," Una spoke, "and even if they were, the distance between Dover and London is too great for a beginner. And I can't carry all of them."

"I suppose they could walk with us," Merlin commented, "although that would require Coyote's services."

"Anything to help," Coyote nodded.

"Have you thought of names for them, yet?" Beth asked curiously.

Una glanced down to the hatchlings gathered around her ankles. One was English gargoyle who looked like a blue furred female version of Leo. One was a Scottish gargoyle that pink and yellow coloring, while one looked like a polar bear cub with wings and its wings and tail were both covered in soft fur. One was a Roman gargoyle, whose feathers were so dark they were almost black, and the final one looked somewhat like an oriental version of a Scottish gargoyle.

The others had decided to let her name them, which left Una somewhat nervous. When she wanted hatchlings of her own, Griff was still going on about fighting the Nazis, and when he disappeared into the phoenix gate, in her grief, she had never participated in the Breeder's Moon with Leo. As a result she had no experience with hatchlings and didn't really know what to do in regards to naming them. For the most part, she was grateful that all of the hatchlings were old enough to have been weaned.

"I hadn't given it much thought," Una admitted, "I was thinking I'd save that for when we return to London. Besides, they still seem rather skittish to sit still long enough to be named."

Beth glanced down at hatchlings, which were rather quiet and stayed as close to Una as possible. The seemed especially fearful of Rachel and Coyote, but she wasn't about guess why that was.

"It's all right little ones, we won't hurt you," Beth tried to urge them to walk out from behind Una.

The hatchlings all looked up to Una with some fear evident in their faces.

"Go on, they won't hurt you," Una urged, "we're going back to your new home."

They slowly walked toward Beth, Merlin, and Arthur, who didn't move as they walked toward them.

"Now, I will need to perform a little magic so people spot you," Coyote spoke as carefully as possible, "but it won't hurt you, and it will only be an image."

The hatchlings looked on nervously, but let Coyote cast his illusion spell while Una dove from the cliff and took to the air.

"I'll see you in London," Una spoke down to them.

With that, Una began gliding toward London while the rest of them began to make their way toward Dover.

**London**

"They're on their way back?" Leo asked, sounding very relieved that Una was on her way back with the others.

"That's what he told me," Macbeth spoke, "although they arrived in Dover, so I would think that it will be late when they arrive."

"I take it they've found a cure for Merlin then?" Giff spoke, hopping they had solved all of the problems that the Illuminati had thrown their way.

"I would assume so," Macbeth nodded, "Arthur didn't sound depressed, and he did mention something about a cure."

"Then they were successful," Julia answered, "That is good."

Macbeth answered the questions concerning Arthur and Merlin's return with a fair bit of patience as the clan gathered their breakfast and prepared to eat. While they ate, Macbeth made his way into a living room to see if he could catch the day's news. The gargoyles would most likely be deciding their patrol routes for the night, and with nothing big gong on at the moment, he wasn't needed for that.

He tuned into one of the BBC news stations to get some update on anything that had happened during the day that the clan might interest in. The story currently being run was an update on the events in China, which seemed to remain chaotic, but after a few moments, the screen changed to show a single red banner with a man in red robes standing in front of it.

"Good evening citizens of the United Kingdom," the robed man spoke, "I am Two, Council Member of the organization known as the Illuminati, currently at war with the man called 'Khan' in China."

Macbeth's eyes narrowed as he continued watching.

"What is it, Macbeth?" Chloe asked as she approached the couch he was sitting.

Macbeth only motioned one hand, as if to try and keep her quiet as he kept watching.

"We had not wanted things to continue as they are, but considering Britain's continued non-commitment to the crushing of Khan's forces, it is the decision of the Illuminati Council that you be made directly subservient to the Council," Two spoke, "This may seem frightening to you, but if you submit, your individual lives will not change… and we will even bring forth an age of prosperity that you have never seen."

"Oh my…" Chloe breathed out in shock, and turned and shouted, "come quick! You must see this!"

The others were quick to arrive as Two continued to speak.

"You have two choices," Two said calmly, "You can fight or accept our rule, and our forces will arrive in one hour to accept your submission to the Illuminati Council. If you fight, our forces will win to insure your submission. Thank you for your time."

"That sounds like the speeches Hitler gave after France fell," Griff spoke in shock at what he had heard.

"Yes," Leo nodded, "but the Illuminati and Hitler were two very different monsters."

"We must stop them," Lancelot urged.

"The question is how, though," Macbeth turned to him, "we are here in London. The Illuminati may make their headquarters, but this will be going on throughout Britain. This is an invasion."

Leo's eyes widened at the word invasion and remembered things that Merlin, Arthur, and Una had been talking about concerning Britain's 'Greatest Hour of Need'.

"This could be what Merlin was concerned about," Leo spoke up, "Britain' Greatest Hour of Need."

"I take it stopping them isn't going to be easy then?" Gawain asked.

"And everything will depend on how the government responds to this," Macbeth answered.

**Number 10, London**

The Illuminati announcement triggered an almost immediate response and the Prime Minister was in no way ready to respond to the announcement. Members of parliament had called to voice their worries and asked what the Prime Minister's opinion was, while he was trying to get in touch with his cabinet trying to figure out what they would do, or at least figure out what position to take when they were to go before parliament. He entered the main conference room to find his cabinet waiting for him.

"I thank you all for rushing here on such short notice," the Prime Minister said politely, "but we must reach some decision what we are to do, considering everything."

"I'm not sure there is anything we can do," one cabinet member spoke, "we don't know where they're coming from, and they're coming in an hour. And even if they come from within, we don't have time to do an investigation."

The Prime Minister sighed heavily at that. They were being invaded by some secret organization that had been controlling China, and they only had an hour to prepare for it. Regardless of what they decided to do, things would not be easy.

"Maybe we should submit," a different cabinet member spoke up, "we can't repeal their attack and we don't know where it will come from… or whether or not it will come from within. Submit for know until we know exactly who our enemies are. Then begin to agitate once we know who to target."

"Many could still die before we figure that out," a third cabinet member argued, "Why would you urge that we give up?"

"I…," the second cabinet member spoke nervously, "I guess I don't want to put our people in a situation where they would lose, but would also potentially face betrayal… if we wait until the opportune moment, we'd be able to win and could potentially take some good from these 'Illuminati'."

"Nothing good can come from them," the first cabinet member, "they will plunge us into the same chaos that is currently plaguing China and hurting the global economy."

"There could be some good," a fourth cabinet member spoke up, "what they represent is great and dramatic change, just as the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the fifth century, the Viking raids of the ninth century, the Norman conquest in 1066, and the development of what would become Parliament during the reign of John I. There were good things that came from each of these, but, we must also remember that the Celtic Britons still fought the Saxons. The Vikings did devastate the entire island, along with the rest of Europe. And the Saxons fought bravely against William I. The question we should be asking is what are the potential benefits of 'submitting' and are they better then the likely negatives that will also occur."

"And Nigel, what do you think we stand?" the Prime Minister asked, "on the positive or negative?"

"To be honest, we can not truly know what their 'positive' aspect will be, if there is any," Nigel answered, "It is usually a historian's job to figure out what consequences of a specific action were good or bad, but I can guess at some of the likely negatives."

The others turned to Nigel with very concerned looks.

"They claim we've been helping this 'Khan' in Tibet," Nigel answered, "Which we all know is a lie, but in their own deluded minds, if they see us, or at least some of us, as enemies… they are likely to execute those they perceive to be their enemies. And by using the tone that they used, and specifically the word 'submit', I doubt they will let us govern our own people any longer. We could be in for a long dark night before any possible 'good' comes out of all of this."

The Prime Minister sighed heavily. He had been good friends with Nigel before getting into politics, and he had always trusted his advice. It was clear to him that from Nigel's answers that what the Illuminati was bringing couldn't be beneficial.

"So we should fight?" the Prime Minister asked.

"I don't really know," Nigel answered, "they haven't given us any other options besides submitting or fighting them… and if they're already among us, we may not have a chance of winning in the long term."

The Prime Minister then sighed heavily, "we will defend our island and our people. But the Queen and the Royal family are to go to Scotland for their own safety. Even if they're already there, I doubt they'll focus on that part of the country initially. And if things go bad, they can flee to some place where they aren't attacking."

"Of course," the others all agreed.

"But we are to still try get them to negotiate if at all possible," the Prime Minister sighed, "try to talk them into backing off… and if they don't, we do what we must."

The others all nodded again.

**On the Road to London**

"You're lucky I was already making this run," a truck driver spoke to Arthur, as he and Rachel squeezed into the cab of his vehicle, while the others were in the back of the truck, "I normally don't do this."

"Pick up hitch-hikers?" Rachel questioned.

"No, drive at night," the driver answered, "I just don't like it that much. What takes all of you to London, anyway?"

"Returning home, actually," Arthur answered, "we had to go into Dover on business, but our ride was unable to pick us up, and our business lasted longer then expected."

The man only shrugged and kept his eyes on the dark road.

"So where in London do I drop you off?" the man asked after a few moments.

"If you could just get us into the city that would be fine," Rachel answered, "once we're there, we can walk, and you can keep on your schedule."

"Thank you, but it really is no problem," their driver began to answer when he noticed something in the distance, "hold on."

Arthur and Rachel both looked at each other for a moment before looking out to see a Challenger tank moving to block the road, and with the Union Jack flying from its radio antenna.

"Is the army running maneuvers or something?" Rachel asked as she watched the tank turn its turret so that the main gun was pointed directly at them.

"I don't think so," their driver spoke, "it'd be rather odd for them to be out right now, and around here."

The driver stopped his truck as a lone soldier came out from the ditch and motioned for him to roll down his window.

"Where you headed?" the soldier questioned.

"London, sir, is something wrong?" the driver answered.

"You don't know?" the soldier asked back.

"Know what?" the driver wondered.

"This road is closed to all traffic," the soldier spoke, "to make sure that the Illuminati can't land a huge army on the coast and advance on London."

"The Illuminati…" Rachel breathed out in shock.

"Do you know something?" the soldier barked angrily, "Out, all of you! OUT!"

Arthur, Rachel and the driver slowly got out of the cab, and they then looked to see two more soldiers pulling Beth, Merlin, Coyote, and the disguised hatchlings out of the back of the truck. The hatchlings looked utterly terrified and clung to Merlin's legs. The soldier in front of them, however, didn't care about that.

"What do you know about the Illuminati?" the soldier demanded leveling his rifle at Arthur's chest.

"Mostly that they are not to be trusted," Arthur answered slowly, "could you please tell us what is going on?"

"As if you don't know," the soldier grumbled, "Now, why are you invading Britain?! Tell me NOW!"

"Invading, I've lived here all my life," the driver protested, sounding utterly confused by everything.

The soldier began to turn to him when the sound of helicopter engines broke the silence and three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache attack helicopters came into view. They were all painted black and bore no insignia.

"Those are American choppers," the British tank commander spoke, "what are they doing here?"

The first Blackhawk stopped and turned so that the main passenger area was visible to the small group of soldiers and Arthur's group of travelers. In it were several men in black and red commando gear, and looked like they were wearing body armor. Their apparent leader looked like he was wearing medieval robes that were a bright crimson.

"I am Agent Chatham of the Illuminati," the robed man spoke, "I trust this gathering is hear to submit to Illuminati rule…"

The man paused for a moment, looked at Arthur and then added, "…and to surrender Pendragon into Illuminati custody."

"Pendragon?" the driver asked Arthur, "I thought you said your name was Arthur."

"Pendragon is my last name," Arthur answered, which made the soldier's eyes bug out of his head.

"Do you submit?" Chatham demanded.

"We're here to defend England!" the soldier that stopped them shouted and fired a series of shots with his rifle at the exposed passenger area of the helicopter.

What came next was sheer chaos. The soldier's shots hit Chatham and a few others, which made that Blackhawk pilot pull back, but the two Apaches, which had taken flanking positions returned fire with a pair of hellfire missiles which completely destroyed the British tank before it even had a shot at firing on the attacking helicopters. The resulting explosion knocked all of them down, and rolling into the area along the side of the road to avoid being a clear target.

Meanwhile, the three Blackhawks moved back a ways to let the commandos inside get out while the two Apaches stayed close to provide cover.

"This is just great," the soldier grumbled, "they took out our tank which was the only weapon we had available with a large enough caliber weapon to deal with those helicopters."

"We'll do fine," Arthur answered him while the driver cowered between them, "so long as we can take care of the two helicopters closest to us. Coyote, how are you at summoning storms?"

"I'm only good with ones that people here do not see every day," Coyote answered, "but then, I don't think that really matters."

Coyote then moved out into the center of the road, and with glowing eyes pointed first at the truck and then at the closest helicopter, which was closing in on him. The truck then seemed to slowly dissolve into sand and blew directly into windscreen of the Apache helicopter. The pilot tried to maneuver out of the improvised sandstorm and ended up colliding with the other helicopter. The two vehicles fell into a small field nearby and exploded.

The move left the soldier in awe, but gave Coyote little time as up to twenty commandos came advancing up the street, and the other British infantrymen fired on the southwestern fey. Coyote was hit roughly five times before dropping to the ground.

"Coyote!" Beth screamed in terror as the soldier returned fire against the commandos, hitting two of them.

"The rounds aren't iron," Rachel whispered to the youngest Maza sibling, as she felt her claws lengthen, "he should be fine."

"We can't stay here," the soldier grumbled when a bullet suddenly grazed one shoulder.

He looked up to see that it was his own compatriot that had shot at him.

"Harry! What are you doing?!" the soldier demanded.

"If you will not submit, then you are an enemy," Harry answered and was about to fire again when he was hit in the chest by an electric blast fired from the electric blaster Arthur had with him.

The blast successfully knocked Harry out and left them facing the approaching commandos.

"We could use some mist, Merlin," Rachel grunted out in a growling voice as she continued to transform, "give us cover."

The soldier and the driver then noticed Rachel, and noticed that she was clearly larger then before, and covered in a downy coat of brown fur and wearing a specialized jumpsuit.

"Holy…!" the driver gasped.

"Don't worry," Arthur told them both, "they aren't like the movie monsters."

Arthur then fired a series of shots at the advancing commandos while Merlin frantically worked to cast a spell that would bathe the area in a thick mist. As the mist rolled in, Coyote rolled over and in a brief flash of light seemed to disappear and was replaced by an actual coyote, and Rachel howled as her tail grew out behind her. This totally freaked out the soldier and the driver… although by that time, the driver had fainted.

"And this is where the fun begins," Rachel commented with a toothy smile.

Arthur, Merlin, Beth, and the soldier then watched as Coyote and Rachel disappeared into the mist. The disguised hatchlings stayed close to Merlin and Beth. They waited quietly as the sounds of barks and howls soon echoed through the mist, along with several gun shots that appeared to be rather wild. When the mist cleared, Coyote and Rachel were both standing over the unconscious Illuminati commandos. The Blackhawk helicopters were retreating into the distance.

"Unbelievable," the soldier gasped.

"They didn't expect to fight in conditions in which they couldn't see," Rachel commented, remaining in wolf-form for the moment.

"You're… you're…" the soldier gasped, trying to collect himself.

"A werewolf?" Rachel sighed, lowering her ears in frustration, "yes, yes, I am, but that doesn't necessarily make me a monster."

The soldier managed to gain some degree of personal strength back as Rachel was standing still and making no wild or aggressive moves. The incident had thrown his entire world on its head, and he desperately needed to figure things out.

"And they called you 'Pendragon'," the soldier said to Arthur.

"Yes," Arthur answered in a heavy voice, "that is my name. Arthur Pendragon."

"Named after the legend?" the soldier asked.

"He IS the legendary king," Beth spoke up, "He is King Arthur."

The soldier's eyes bugged out of his head, "What…? How…? Why…?"

"Every legend has some truth to it," Merlin explained to the soldier, "as I'm sure Rachel's presence proves. And the legend of Arthur Pendragon going to Avalon to await Britain's Greatest Hour of need is true."

"And you've come back to rule?" the soldier asked.

"No," Arthur answered, "my time as 'king' was more then a millennium ago. I am perfectly willing to let the House Windsor rule. Besides, most would probably consider me too 'old fashioned' for the modern world."

"So why are you here?" the soldier asked curiously.

"Hopefully, to save Britain," Arthur answered, "as the force you're facing is an old one."

"Yes, the Illuminati," the soldier answered, "they think we've been helping Khan and are trying to take over."

"Actually, they ALREADY rule Britain," Merlin spoke nervously, "they rule the entire globe, but they do it covertly. Illuminati members have never directly run for many political offices, but they have served as advisors to insure that those who are in office, or on the throne, do as they wish."

The soldier looked horrified.

"It's probably why your friend, Harry fired on us," Merlin sighed, "he was an Illuminati agent placed in the army, probably to at least monitor the army's activities."

"Why?" the soldier asked weakly, "why would he do this?"

"Probably under the perception that through the Illuminati's secret advising, the world would be made better," Merlin sighed, "they aren't entirely evil… but recent events, like Khan in China, and Arthur's presence here in Britain, their organization is becoming more and more desperate."

"They're your enemies?" the soldier asked, confused.

"Something to do with some prophecy they have," Arthur told him, "they believe that if I fulfill the role the legends say I am to fill, their power will wane, so they've become desperate. Unfortunately, none of us know what their prophecy is or why I would stop it… so there is much that has both of us in the dark."

"This is a lot to take in," the soldier then sighed.

"Yeah, it is," Coyote spoke as he approached, "can you 'take it in'?"

"I guess," the soldier sighed, "what do we do with these guys though?"

"I guess the first thing would be to see if non-Illuminati forces control the base you were sent here from," Arthur sighed looking at the unconscious Harry and Illuminati commandos, "if not, we'll have to take them with us to the mansion that I have been living in."

"I don't think we have enough room to imprison all of these people," Merlin commented.

"It's either that or we let them go," Coyote warned, "and considering the Illuminati are trying to take over, openly anyway, it might be a bit dangerous to let them go."

Merlin only sighed. The evening had begun so well with the hope that he would be cured of the curse that Six had put on him to rob him of his powers. Now, Britain had been invaded and they was facing an uphill battle for freedom. Things were not going to be easy.

**Warehouse, London**

Two and Six stood triumphantly around a series of communication equipment and computers. The reaction that they expected to happen, had happened. There was violence in the streets, and the local police and military found itself trying to control riotous mobs more then being on the lookout for the Illuminati units moving into London. While that was disrupting the British army's reaction, it also slowed down the Illuminati's attempt to take control in London.

Two Illuminati squads got jumped by gangs or British citizens who didn't want to be ruled by the London. By the time everything they had beaten off the attacks, they had suffered enough casualties to make it impossible for them to engage the army.

"Things are progressing well," Two commented, "or at least as well can be expected."

"We're still taking resistance," Six pointed out, "we've sewn confusion, but other then in a few of the outlying cities in southern England, we do not control much. The area around London is a mess, and we haven't heard any reports from the areas around Wales and Scotland. And there hasn't been anything out of Northern Ireland, not even regular news reports."

"That was expected," Two spoke, "and it will take time to subdue all of them. For right now, the British are trying to sort out who is an Illuminatus and who is not. When they get over that confusion, they will have only us, and they will be too weak to even oppose us, let alone win."

"If you say so," Six sighed.

Elsewhere a small formation made their way through London through the air as though they were looking for something.

"Shouldn't we be doing something to stop the Illuminati's attacks on the people?" Griff asked as he occasionally looked down to see various fights breaking out on the ground below them.

"This is confusion related to the Illuminati deciding to take over," Macbeth answered from his hoversled as he lead Griff, Julia, Octavia, Chloe, and Lancelot over London, while the rest of the clan remained behind to guard the mansion, "We'll only play into their hands if we stop to aid the local resistance groups."

"So what do we do, Macbeth?" Chloe asked nervously, "because everything about what the Illuminati is doing is wrong."

"We need to do what we can to make sure the Illuminati can not communicate with the rest of their forces," Macbeth spoke, "their broadcast likely came from somewhere in London, and that is likely where their nerve center is."

"We take out their transmitter and their invasion fizzles out?" Griff asked.

"Hopefully," Macbeth nodded, "although, I'd think that all we'll actually do is slow it down… but that might buy us some time and allow Arthur and his group to make their way back safely by distracting them."

"And what would their transmitter look like?" Lancelot asked.

"Probably like some high tech radio antenna," Griff commented, "and probably in a place where an antenna shouldn't be."

"Like that one rising out of a warehouse?" Julia asked while pointing.

Griff looked up and saw that Julia was pointing toward a warehouse near the Thames, a warehouse that had a tall spire rising from its middle with several satellite dishes on it. Clearly something that didn't belong in the warehouse district.

"That's probably it," Griff nodded.

Griff turned and banked toward the antenna while the others moved to follow him. He was the first to hit the tower, and with his combined weight and momentum, the antenna quickly began to tilt in the direction in which Griff was headed. When Octavia, Julia, and Lancelot added their combined momentum to Griff's, the antenna fell downward, crashing into the roof of the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, Two and Six were still following the stream of reports coming in when they heard a sudden crashing noise above them and several of their monitoring screens went black. They were forced to dive away when their antenna suddenly crashed through the roof of the warehouse they were in.

"What the devil?" Six exclaimed and then looked to a screen that was showing the security footage.

On it he saw five gargoyles and a hoversled circling overhead.

"We're under attack!" Six spoke, "It's the London gargoyles!"

"I had wondered when we'd have to deal with them," Two commented, "although I didn't think they'd figure out where WE were and attack. To the roof, quickly."

The two quickly rushed up a flight of stairs that took them to the roof. They arrived to find that the gargoyles were still circling above them.

"Well, you were right," Chloe spoke as she noticed Two and Six come out onto the roof, "they do have members present."

"Only two, though," Lancelot said confidently, "we can take them!"

Chloe and Lancelot both dove toward the two figures, intending to grab and carry them off as prisoners. They made it half way when one threw a ball of green colored energy at Lancelot, who quickly found himself encased inside a large bubble that he couldn't escape from. The other threw a lightning spell at Chloe, who barely managed to dodge it.

"They're sorcerers!" Chloe shouted as she broke off her attack.

Macbeth fired his electric blaster at one of the two men from his hoversled, hoping to give the others some cover fire. The blast made the robed man dive away and distracted the other. Macbeth then fired a second blast that freed Lancelot.

"Don't give them a clear shot," Macbeth shouted, "Move quickly!"

Griff and Julia both dove at the first robed man that Macbeth had shot at before he could fully recover. Six managed to duck under Griff's punch, but found himself grabbed by Julia's feet, and the eagle-like gargoyle began to carry the councilmember into the air the way an eagle would carry of a fish or rabbit.

"You can't do this!" Six roared in anger.

"Don't consider attacking," Julia answered back with a growl, "If I drop you, you'll be in a world of hurt."

Six ignored her and cast a lightning spell that made Julia release him. His victory was short lived, however, as he found himself falling, and hit in the chest by a blast from Macbeth's electric blaster. He ended up landing on his back on the edge of the warehouse, and didn't move.

Two, meanwhile, remained alert as Octavia, Lancelot, and Chloe tried to launch attacks on him from various directions and Macbeth fired electric blasts down on him. He was strong in magic, but with several opponents attacking from multiple angles, there were limits to what he could do. And since most of the men available to the Illuminati were trying to suppress either British citizens wielding clubs an chains or British soldiers in confused battles, he wouldn't likely get any help any time soon.

Chloe and Lancelot both dove and attempted to make a pass at two from opposing directions, hoping that the Illuminati councilmember couldn't dodge both attacks. Two managed to duck under Lancelot's slashing swipe at him, and then used his magic to raise up the roof so that Chloe glided head first into it. The green female then fell to the surface, unconscious.

"That's a start," Two commented.

"And your end," Macbeth growled as he hit Two in the chest with an electric blast, knocking Two toward the hole in the roof when the antenna collapsed.

Two had barely recovered when Octavia swooped in low, and landed a kick that knocked Two into the warehouse. He landed on a pile of crates, and didn't move. Octavia looked down and heard the councilmember groan. She was soon distracted by the sound of helicopter engines.

"They must have called for help before coming up here," Macbeth commented, noticing the sound of the helicopter's engines as well, "Lancelot, take Chloe. Griff, I trust the one councilmember up here to you. Having him as a prisoner might put us in a better position."

They all nodded and did what they could to get away and leave the area. Hopefully they did enough to slow the Illuminati down.

**The Mansion**

Una was fairly nervous as she came within sight of the mansion. Much of her trip had been fairly calm, but as she got closer to London, the countryside seemed to come alive with fighting between British troops and citizens and with unmarked vehicles and soldiers. It was totally confusing, and Una feared that she would become a target. And she found that London was in much the same shape as she came in to land on the mansion's roof, to find Leo nervously waiting for her.

"Una!" Leo gasped sounding surprised.

"Hello, Leo," Una spoke, "it is good to see you. What is going on? All of southern Britain seems to be in arms."

"It's the Illuminati," Leo growled in a frustrated voice, "something has made them desperate and they're invading Britain to drag us down with them."

"Our finding Merlin's cure," Una breathed nervously.

"What?" Leo asked her, sensing her unease.

"We recently recovered the ingredients needed to cure Merlin from an Illuminati base," Una informed him, "and we began our return here. Didn't Arthur tell you?"

"Arthur has not yet arrived," Leo told his mate, "you are the first to return. He might have gotten caught on the road between Dover and London. The Illuminati are doing this all over Britain."

"This is bad," Una spoke, "We'll still need to get Merlin to Stonehenge to cure him, and now, we can't be certain that he'll make it back here."

"Macbeth and some of the others have gone to take out the antenna the Illuminati used to block out all the television signals," Leo updated Una on what they were doing, "Hopefully that'll slow down their ability to communicate, and Arthur and his part of the group can sneak in. We can discuss how to get Merlin to Salisbury once they arrive."

I hope you're right, Leo," Una answered, "because I fear that this is only the beginning of a very long metaphorical night."

**To Be Continued…**


	29. Igniting Resistance

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Invasion".

Igniting Resistance

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Chatham, England**

"This is all so unbelievable," a young British private, named Reginald, spoke to the men beside him, "a secret society that covertly rules the world directly attacking Britain because you represent a threat to their plans."

"It is what it is," Arthur sighed, "neither you nor I can do anything about that. The only thing that can be done is figure out what to do now."

Reginald nodded and then looked out toward the city in front of them. It was smaller then London, but still housed the small British Army base that Reginald had left from earlier when the Illuminati announced their plan to occupy the island. They had hoped to check the base to deliver the Illuminati agents they had captured in fight so that Arthur could continue on his way to London, without having to kill anyone. But, for fear of Arthur or Merlin being recognized they decided to stay back and send in those who wouldn't be recognized by any Illuminati agents in the town.

"I would think what to do would be obvious," Reginald answered, "free Britain."

"Yes, but the actual means of doing so will be difficult," Arthur answered, "unless the bulk of the army was made up of men like yourself, the Illuminati have likely gained control over most of the island and have been firmly entrenched…"

"And that will mean that we must move carefully," Reginald nodded, "and strike at their leadership. Every person in Britain can not be an Illuminati member, and certainly the entire organization can not approve of this."

Arthur could only nod as a flash of light appeared before them as Beth, Rachel, and Coyote stepped out of it. None of them looked very optimistic about the overall situation.

"How did it go?" Reginald asked

"If you're asking if we got the information we need," Coyote began, "that went quite well… the problem will actually be in relation to the information that we uncovered."

"I take it that the Illuminati control the town," Arthur spoke slowly.

The three of them nodded in response and began to head on foot down the small hill. Merlin was with the young gargoyle hatchlings that they had rescued from the Illuminati facility and the driver of the truck that had originally been their intended transportation to London were at the bottom of the hill. Rachel approached Arthur directly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They control enough that we'd be in danger if we tried to move into the town," Rachel said with a sigh.

Arthur only sighed in response as they began to walk down the hill toward where Merlin was waiting. They all slowly made their way back to Merlin who was guarding the hatchlings they had earlier rescued. The young gargoyles were currently in stone form, and would have to wait until dusk before they could move.

"So how did the scouting mission go?" Merlin asked as they approached.

"The Illuminati control it," Coyote sighed, "red flags with a pyramid with an inside it were flying above every government building, and the army base. I saw something that looked like people being rounded up on the army base, but I couldn't tell for sure if that was the populace, or other members of the army that didn't follow the Illuminati."

Both Merlin and Arthur sighed heavily.

"I don't think they rounded up populace," Rachel commented, "I caught several scents of various people of various ages around the town… but I am fairly certain that they've taken control of the town."

"Is there anyway we could contact someone inside Chatham?" Merlin asked, "Get some help? Because these hatchlings will need some food when they wake up, and Una took the supplies that we had back to London… thinking that we would have been their by now."

"Well…" Beth commented, and turned to the truck driver who was quietly listening, but looking rather lost and confused by everything, "if you mean can we call London? I don't know. I tried calling Elisa, to test to see if they were listening in… and well… I couldn't even get dial tone. I don't know if that was because they knew I was there or that there's something going on in New York… I just don't know."

Beth then paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing.

"But I would say, that if our driver doesn't wish to tag along, I'm pretty sure it's safe enough that he could sneak into the town and avoid detection," Beth finished, "but the rest of us would likely attract too much attention."

That resulted in some heavy sighs from all the people there. The driver looked a little bit relieved, but even he was a bit unsure about going about on his own. His truck was destroyed and some strange secret society had taken over the country, and the only people who could stop them were, a medieval king considered to be more myth then fact, his wizard teacher, a werewolf, a clan of gargoyles, a member of a race of magical beings and his human girlfriend.

"As good as that might be, they might come after me for driving you," the driver answered, "I think I might stick around until you are more certain that they can't hunt me down for helping you."

"We're sorry for forcing all of this on you," Arthur commented to him, "I'm it has made things tougher for you."

"It hasn't, but with my truck destroyed, it isn't like I can do much anyway," the driver answered, "I think until I can understand a bit more, running around a war one on my own will only give me more problems."

"You're more then welcome to travel with us," Merlin spoke, "although the way things are going, we will have to travel on foot. I've heard a lot of traffic on the road that does not sound like normal trafific."

The only response received was a very heavy sigh.

**Warehouse, London**

Meanwhile, things were not much quieter in London. The London clan had attacked the warehouse that the Illuminati had been using and destroyed their main antenna as well as carrying off Six. This left Two to oversee the repair of the warehouse so that rain, sleet, or snow couldn't fall in. Thankfully for Two, though, the London clan appeared to be the only serious resistance the Illuminati faced in the London area. There were some scattered army units, many of them were so off guard by members of their own units turning out to be Illuminati members that they had ended up cleansing their own ranks and retreating when the regular Illuminati forces approached.

This largely gave Two control of all the facilities that the British government had had, and all of them were still in tact. This was a great boon for the Illuminati, as it had also made the attack by the London clan unsuccessful in the sense of slowing down the invasion. The fact that they had captured Six, however, was still a problem, and Two hopped that he gave them trouble while he conversed with the Council over what to do next.

"You control the island?" One asked through a teleconference screen that had its signal being relayed through the mainland before going to the main Council chambers.

"Largely," Two answered, "those in the British military that oppose our direct occupation have largely fled to portions of Wales or Scotland… and unfortunately, I've had little contact from Northern Ireland, but what did come through was largely encouraging."

"What are their exact lines of defense against us?" Three questioned, "that you know of."

"The troops in Wales are centered around Mt. Snowdon, and are expected to fall within the next few hours at the earliest," Two answered, "the reports from Scotland, however, are not as encouraging. They hold the city of Glasgow and line running down the River Clyde connected with a line running along the River Tweed. They might be able to hold out for a day or two before we can force them back again… and depending on who is commanding them will determine how far they fall back, or if they will surrender."

"Can you give us any guesses as to why little has come out of Northern Ireland?" Five wondered.

Two shook his head, "and for the moment, I would be inclined to let Northern Ireland go for the moment. Perhaps we could use this to allow the Republic of Ireland to reunite their people under one flag. Our most pressing concerns are much closer to London."

"The London Clan?" One asked.

"And Pendragon," Two nodded, "a patrol ran into Pendragon near Chatham last night. They defeated the British army unit there, but Pendragon's supporters managed to drive off our helicopters and capture our commandos."

That resulted in a rather heavy sigh from the entire group.

"And that is not the worst of it," Two spoke slowly.

"What happened?" One questioned.

"Macbeth lead the London clan on a raid of our headquarters," Two answered, "they destroyed our primary communications tower, but with London within our grasp, that is unimportant. The problem is that they knocked Six unconscious and captured him."

"My lord…" Three gasped in surprise, "surely that's impossible…"

"I assure you, Three, that it is not," Two answered, "which is why I'm contacting you. We need to know what to do next in regards to this issue."

"You want to rescue Six?" One asked.

"Yes, my lord," Two answered, "Freeing him will be of great importance to maintaining the Council."

"We can easily replace him," One dismissed it, "and besides, Macbeth is not the reason for the invasion. If we are to free him and deal with Macbeth and the London clan… we will do so after Pendragon is dead."

"Of course," Two nodded, "we do have other patrols moving throughout southern Britain. I'll have them begin hunting Pendragon immediately."

"Good," One answered and terminated the connection.

Two sighed heavily and stepped away from the screen. As he did so, a lone workman approached, looking rather nervous.

"Do you want us to put up the rest of your equipment, my lord?" the workman asked in a nervous voice.

"No," Two answered, "we'll be moving our operations to the Parliament building soon. All we are to do here is to insure that it can function as a warehouse… Let Macbeth think he's won a victory."

"Of course, sir," the workman nodded.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Six awoke slowly to find himself in a room that might as well have been a prison cell. It was large enough to house a bed, a desk and chair, and a clock mounted on the wall, but there wasn't much else in the way of room. What frustrated him the most was that someone had changed his clothes. He as wearing a pair of business pants and a short sleeved button down shirt and all the talismans he used to perform spell had been removed. That left him powerless.

"Where am I?" Six wondered aloud as he began to walk about the room he was in.

"Pendragon's prison facility," came a growling voice through an air vent near him.

"Lucius?" Six wondered again as he recognized the voice from tapes that had made it to the Illuminati Council.

From what Six remembered, Lucius was some fool that worshiped Ancient Rome and hated Arthur Pendragon, but was too weak to be an effective soldier for the Illuminati's purposes.

"You know me, but I do not know you…" Lucius growled back.

"I am Six, Councilmember of the Illuminati," Six answered, "Do you know of a way out?"

"No… all these rooms are either sealed by magic or electricity," Lucius answered, "and they feed us through the slits in the door… and not all that bad though…"

"I am not interested in the quality of the food they provide," Six answered, "I am interested in escaping."

"And I'm telling you I don't know," Lucius answered, "and besides, even if I did… it'd be difficult. Pendragon's friends keep at least one gargoyle on guard duty every night…"

"They can be beaten," Six spoke, "they are not invincible."

"I'd still need to get outside the room they have me in, which I haven't been able to do," Lucius answered.

Six could only sigh.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Macbeth nervously paced near the door to the room that the clan slept in. The Illuminati invasion had cancelled all the classes at the college that he had been given a position at, and the administration even phoned to inform him that most of them were fleeing north. Macbeth had to decline going with them. He had some responsibility to the London clan, and he was certain that Arthur would need an update when his group did arrive in London.

What troubled him at present, though, were the events of the night before. They had captured Six and taken out the Illuminati's communications tower, which Macbeth considered a success, but he still expected them to counter attack. The Illuminati would see him as a direct threat and would attack, which would risk destroying the London clan if he did nothing to stop them. The immortal Scottish king wasn't that concerned about himself, as he doubted that the Illuminati would try to get Demona to kill him for them. So far though, there had been no attack by the Illuminati. He hoped that if they did attack, it would wait until after sunset.

**Northern Ireland**

Rory Dugan looked out the window of his father's home as more military vehicles went by. It was something that unnerved him having all this activity around. It had shut down of the jobs he had taken to maintain the roads in the town and county, mainly as the other workers either joined these Illuminati or the British troops that were fighting them. A good part of him saw these Illuminati troops as a threat, and had a good mind to try and do something about it, but at the same time, he worried about his father. Cuchulainn was a powerful warrior, but he couldn't be everywhere, and these Illuminati seemed to be everywhere.

"These Illuminati people are nothing but trouble," Rory heard his father grumble as the older man approached, "they've shut everything down."

Rory turned to face him as his father continued to grumble.

"And all because the British are supporting this 'Khan' character," his father finished.

"I doubt they really know of this guy," Rory commented, "let alone support him."

"That makes it worse," his father grumbled.

Rory could only nod at that. He did agree with that assessment, his concern was what would the Illuminati do to his father when they figured who was causing them trouble.

"You've told me about being this reincarnated hero…" his father began.

"Cuchulainn," Rory answered, remembering explaining what had gone on when Elisa, Angela, Goliath, and Bronx had visited them to deal with the Banshee, and the resulting explanation that he had to give his father afterward.

"Yes," his father nodded, remembering the old stories about the mythical Irish hero. Learning that those stories had some truth to them, and that his own son was the reincarnated form of the hero from those stories was shocking to say the least, and it took him awhile to believe it, but in time as Rory accepted and took more responsibility for himself, he began to accept it. "Couldn't you use his powers to fight off these Illuminati?"

"I could…" Rory sighed, "and I've thought about it… considering that it's wrong and that it's an invasion… but I'm not all that experienced in taking Cuchulainn's form, and I'm afraid they'd come after you. These Illuminati people are everywhere."

"What would they want with an old man?" his father asked.

"No, that they'd kill you or something to keep 'Cuchulainn' away," Rory answered, "some sort of hostage thing."

His father gave a slow sigh, "I thank you for thinking of me, but there are times when things must be done, regardless of the consequences."

Rory didn't answer.

"Their invasion has put nearly everyone out of work, including you," his father continued, "is that some 'golden age of enlightenment' that they advertised?"

"No," Rory sighed, and then looked out the window, "although I'm not sure how I can do this. This isn't Cuchulainn's time or style of fighting… and to be honest, I'm no soldier… I don't think I can do it alone."

"I'm sure we can find those who would be more then willing to help," his father answered, "they may not be able to really fight, but they can distract them to give Cuchulainn a chance."

**Chatham, England**

The young hatchlings that they had rescued earlier awoke as all gargoyles did when the sun set. It startled the driver and Reginald a bit, but both of them did find their was some sense of 'cuteness' in the young gargoyles. To the hatchlings, who expected to be in London by now, the situation was even more troublesome, as they began to bombard Merlin and Beth with nervous questions while eyeing both Reginald and the driver.

"It's alright," Beth spoke in as soothing a voice as she could muster, "everything will be alright. They are here to help."

"No Una," the little Scottish hatchling told her.

"Yes, Una has gone ahead of us to London," Beth answered, "we need to go by land to meet her there. We will all keep you safe."

The other hatchlings nervously looked at Reginald, Coyote, the driver, and Rachel.

"We are your friends," Rachel spoke, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Is there something wrong?" Reginald asked.

"They likely smell my lycanthropy and are nervous in my presence," Rachel answered slowly, "and I think for hatchlings as young as them, I think it's more instinctual rather then misconceptions made by movie makers and folklore story-tellers."

"And we are too new for them," the driver commented, "with them expecting to be in London by now."

"You are among friends," Beth spoke again to the hatchlings, "we will all help protect you until we can get to London."

They seemed to relax a little bit.

"We'd best eat first, though," Arthur commented, "We still have a long walk ahead of us, and the Illuminati probably will not stop their hunting."

"I'm afraid I do not have much in the way of rations," Reginald spoke, "Our commanders were caught to quickly by the Illuminati's attack to have many things ready… and to a certain extent, I don't think they expected the results that have occurred…"

"Or they were Illuminati members themselves," Merlin sighed, "Either way, it is no difference. I'm sure Coyote procure something for us to eat for tonight…"

All eyes then turned to the southwestern fey.

"I'll see what I can do," Coyote answered and was gone.

He reappeared with several loaves of bread and a couple canisters of spam. He set them down carefully.

"You may have to cook the spam, but it should do for now," Coyote commented slowly, "I'm sorry that it isn't much, but it's the best I could do."

"The best?" Beth asked.

"Without being run out of Chatham by an irate grocery owner attracting the attention of the Illuminati," Coyote answered.

"It's alright," Beth commented, "I'm sure we can set up a small fire to cook the spam somewhere. Hopefully no one notices the smoke."

**London**

"They didn't attack during the day?" Griff asked as Macbeth finished his report on how the day had gone, "I would have thought they would have at least tried to rescue their friend while we slept."

"They didn't," Macbeth answered, "It would appear that our prisoner is not as important to the Illuminati as I had thought. Why else would they let him remain our prisoner."

"Possibly that they do not see us as a threat and are deliberately ignoring us," Octavia commented, "which could prove harmful to them if they ignore us for long."

"That might be it, given their obsession with Arthur and Merlin," Griff commented, "but where else can we hit them? We don't have the numbers for an all out fight, and we've already taken out their communications tower…"

"That unfortunately was only negligible damage to them," Macbeth grumbled, "the rest of their organization has driven the British army all the way to Scotland and some patches of Northern Ireland. They've moved most of their broadcast operations to the BBC broadcasting areas."

That produced a rather heavy sigh from all the gargoyles present. None of them wanted to hear that their enemy was winning, and winning relatively easily.

"We've got to do something," Lancelot urged with Gawain and Guinevere nodding beside him.

"The question is what," Una spoke up, "from what you told me when you returned was that you succeeded in part because you surprised the Illuminati at their warehouse. They will likely expect our interference in their campaign against Arthur now. And since their Council members all know sorcery and are powerful in it…"

"We could face bigger problems," Macbeth sighed, "and possible defeat. This means we will have to be careful with anything we do."

"And what are we to do?" Chloe asked slowly.

"For now, mostly research and preparation," Macbeth answered, "We'll need to keep our fights few and far between and on a small scale until the regular army is able to recover and begin to push the Illuminati out."

**On the Road to London**

No one had caught their cooking fire and the group began moving down the road to London, trying their best to stay out of sight in order to protect the hatchlings with them. They seemed to cling to the middle of the group between Beth and Arthur while Coyote and Merlin were closer to the rear and Rachel, Reginald, and the driver were closer to the front. Coyote quietly walked up to Beth as they went.

"How are doing, with all of this?" Coyote asked quietly.

"Fine, I guess," Beth sighed, "although I think I'm beginning to reach the end of my rope on all of this… I mean finding out my family has had magical potential for years… and being stuck in the middle of a war against some organization that already rules the world… it's all a little much."

"It's all a little much," Coyote nodded, "but, just because the ability is there, doesn't mean that it's a path you have to take."

Beth slowly nodded, "I know… but it's still all weird. I mean, how did you know I had the potential?"

Coyote sighed heavily as they walked.

"As you know, I've watched over your family for since your father and your grandfather before him participated in the dances that were created to honor… well, me," Coyote answered, "but I've followed nearly every clan that has participated in those Kachina dances."

"Don't let it all go to your head, now," Beth quipped, knowing that many of the fey were treated as deities or their equivalent in many cultures.

Coyote only shook his head and sighed at the joke.

"Anyway, many centuries ago, long before Europeans found the 'New World', there was a shaman in your ancestral tribe who participated in the dances and did much to aide your people," Coyote began to explain.

"So I'm not the first mortal you've had a crush on?" Beth asked.

"Well… no, but that's a different story," Coyote answered, "and besides, this shaman was male and married. He did make contact with me directly, and it was largely only an exchange of information, not much more."

Beth slowly nodded.

"But over time, I'd like to think I became good friends with him," Coyote continued, "and this is where things begin to circle back to you, and clan Maza."

"Don't tell me, you think I'm descended from this old friend of yours?" Beth asked.

Coyote slowly nodded, "you don't necessarily look like him, but there is a lot about you and your family that reminds me of him. It is entirely possible that you are a descendent, which would explain how you were able to cast the spell at the Illuminati base."

"Maybe," Beth commented, "Although, many time unrelated people have similar personalities."

"And if that's the case, I don't know where your magical talent comes from," Coyote answered, "and even still, it's not like you have to use it."

Beth nodded as they kept walking.

**Northern Ireland**

Rory was quite surprised by the number of people that his father had gathered for what would essentially be a distraction mission. As he crouched in an ally with the Gae Bolga firmly in his grasp, he waited for his decoy force to drive by the village's small police station, which the Illuminati had commandeered as their headquarters. It was their choice of headquarters that surprised Rory at the people who had joined the distraction party. Several of them were local policemen, who had informed them that the Illuminati were using the station.

He then peered out around the ally to see if the truck carrying the group that would distract the Illuminati men for a moment was coming. Their plan to take the police station was a relatively simple one. His father and the others would drive past the station and through a brick through the window. The Illuminati would respond by sending out the soldiers they had assigned to the area, which was where Rory, in Cuchulainn's form would come in.

He would take care off the Illuminati soldiers before they could do anything and then head inside. Once all the Illuminati men were out cold, they could search the station for anything that might indicate what they were doing in Northern Ireland and what their strengths were. What they did after that was yet to be decided.

The truck wasn't their yet, and Rory sighed heavily. He leaned back into the ally and hoped that however was in the station hadn't noticed him watching them. After a few moments he heard the sound of an engine and glanced out again. The truck had finally arrived and was coming up the street. Rory gripped the Gae Bolga tightly and waited for the truck to pass the station. The barbed spear glowed brightly as he did so, and allowed him to take Cuchulainn's form as the truck approached the area.

When the light of transformation faded, Cuchulainn watched as a supply truck drove by with several men in the bed of the truck drove by. Each of them was armed with a brick or rock, and as they went by, they threw their improvised weapons at the windows of the police station. Cuchulainn watched as the projectiles easily shattered the glass and the truck began to drive away.

As predicted, a few Illuminati troops came running out to either investigate the 'attack' or return fire. They weren't heavily armed, and were all watching the truck. When one pulled out a handgun, Cuchulainn moved. Using his spear as a long staff, he rushed forward and pinned all of the Illuminati men against the exterior walls of the building. He knocked two of them out before the third and final one could respond and react to the attack.

"Who are you?" the man demanded as Cuchulainn held him against the wall.

"The defender of the land you are invading," Cuchulainn answered and knocked out the last man.

He let the man go as he truck returned.

"Did you find out anything?" his father asked from the drivers seat.

"No," Cuchulainn answered, and turned to walk into the station, "if we are to find out anything, it'll be inside the station. Not with the men sent to guard it."

Cuchulainn then slowly entered the station, the Gae Bolga ready, should anyone come rushing at him. There was no one in the outer offices, but he could see that there was a light on in one of the back offices, behind a row of cells.

"You can free their prisoners, if they have any?" Cuchulainn asked to the policemen that were part of the small raiding party.

One of the policemen nodded, "I doubt they could have changed the locks."

Cuchulainn nodded again and began walking toward the office door that looked like there was someone in it. As he got closer, a lone man approached the door and looked out of it.

"Alright now, what is causing all this…" the man spoke up until he saw Cuchulainn.

Cuchulainn only responded by throwing the Gae Bolga at the man, and smiled when the spear caught a lose area of clothing and ended up pinning the man to the wall, preventing him from fleeing. And so far, it didn't look like he really wanted to fight the 'hound of Ulster' either.

"Now, surrender!" Cuchulainn commanded of the man.

The man began to wrestle with something under his jacket to pull out a handgun. He had only just pulled it out when the mythical Irish hero moved forward and knocked the weapon out of his hand and lifted Illuminati man into the air.

"Surrender," Cuchulainn commanded again.

The man surrendered quickly, sensing he couldn't do Cuchulainn any harm with his fists. The Hound of Ulster then took him and threw him into the now emptied cells. The man fell unconscious when he hit one of the walls. With that done, Cuchulainn was wrapped in a short flash of light and returned to the more common form of Rory. His father and a couple of non-Illuminati policemen then returned with the Illuminati troops that Cuchulainn had knocked out when they had arrived.

"You won't be holding the 'hero' form?" his father asked.

"The fighting part of this mission is over," Rory answered weakly, "Cuchulainn's form is difficult to maintain. It's easier to simply be me to figure out any information we need as 'Rory' then as the 'hound'."

"It's still amazing to me that some kid is the reincarnation of a hero were all told of as kids," one of the policemen commented.

"Not as shocking as it was to me, I assure you," Rory answered and began walking into the office area.

Rory found much of the desk covered with papers pertaining the Illuminati invasion in the region. There also appeared to be at least one map that seemed to have an outline of the regional 'front'.

"Man, this whole thing is big," Rory commented in shock.

"What is it?" his father asked as he entered.

"The invasion they've launched is simultaneously occurring all over the UK," Rory answered, "and coming from different directions. Those that went straight into Scotland came out of Norway. Those that went into England and Wales came from France, Belgium, and Holland, and those that came into Northern Ireland came from the Republic of Ireland."

"What does that mean?" his father asked.

"Likely that these Illuminati people control all of those countries already in some form," the town's police chief spoke as he entered the room, having just been freed from his own cells.

"I guess that's right," Rory nodded.

"What about the forces here?" Rory's father questioned.

"We're only a stopping point for supplies going to the front Illuminati men here in Northern Ireland," Rory answered, "according their map, we're away from the front line, but their supply routes run through here on the way to the front line."

"Where is the front line?" the police chief asked.

"It's largely a rather weak line running from Strabane north to Londonderry and then to Bellycastle," Rory answered, "we just happen to be along the main supply line to those fronts… although, none of the guys we've captured here are well enough armed to be able for us to withstand any sort of counter attack if they know who is resisting them."

"They'll likely retake control over this area then," the police chief muttered.

"More then likely," Rory answered, "although, I would think that if we can disappear before they know anything certain, that might be a good thing. If they tighten their grip here looking for people they can't find… they'll likely cause more people to resist them locally and weaken their lines at the 'front'."

"And if they don't, we can interfere with their supply lines at will," the chief finished.

"So long as we don't use their base here as our base," Rory nodded, "This is a start, not much of one, but a start nonetheless."

"So long as we are free, that is all that matters," his father answered, "and that these wrongdoers are driven away."

**To Be Continued…**


	30. Reunited

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Igniting Resistance".

Reunited

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Rochester, England**

"Their defenses are getting tighter," Reginald spoke as he returned to the group, "more men and more coordinated defenses. We'd have to go quite a way to get around it."

"We're getting closer to London," Arthur answer, "the capital… going all the way back to the Romans. The main base in England is likely to be there, and they likely expect me to attack them there."

"Wouldn't you?" the driver asked nervously from the spot where he was seated.

"If we were to sneak in and assassinate their leader," Reginald commented, "that would be doable… but with as small a group as we have, we can not hope to capture and HOLD London for long. No offense to your fairy friend here, but if these guys secretly rule the world and know about all these weird things, I'd tend to think they have prepared defenses for magic."

"We prefer fey to fairy, but I understand your point," Coyote nodded, "though 'protection' can mean many things when magic is concerned, and even magic has its loopholes… and I am a bit of a trickster."

"You're entirely a trickster," Beth commented.

"Point taken," Coyote nodded.

"Is there an army base near Rochester?" Merlin asked the private that had joined them.

"I think there was an old base that was used during World War Two as a base… but I'm not sure," Reginald answered, "If not, they've likely commandeered places like the police stations… anything that would supply them with a vehicle, and likely an onboard radio as well."

"Can you guess as to how many are there?" Beth asked.

"A few companies," Reginald answered, "but that's only judging by what I could see ringing Rochester. There is no telling how many more are inside the city. And since our intention is to get to London to meet up with your friends, fighting the Illuminati in Rochester isn't a wise move."

"But who's to say they're not already hunting us?" the driver wondered nervously from where he was, "I mean you defeated one of their teams when they first attacked and have been moving on foot toward London where you say their base is."

"Yes, but once in London we can vanish much easier," Arthur answered, "It's a big city and tracking every individual is very difficult, especially at night."

"That is if we can make it that far," the driver said, "the soldier boy here has already said we'd have to go way OUT of our way to get around these guys. You don't suppose they got someone that will notice the hatchlings with us? Or find us during the day?"

"They likely do," Merlin tried to comfort him, "whether or not they are successful at this, or will actually do anything, is another matter. The key is getting to London. Once there we can make it to a more secure area and plan what we are to do next."

"I still do not think we can get there on foot," the driver commented.

"So we steal some else's vehicle?" Rachael asked, "come on now. That'd only make us as bad as the Illuminati."

"Not necessarily," Reginald spoke, making all eyes turn to him.

The British Army private then sighed and began to explain.

"The Illuminati are running this like a war," Reginald explained, "or like an insurrection, which will commonly operate exactly like a war, but in that case, the 'enemy' within the 'country' rather then outside it. It is common in these cases for soldiers on either side, when supplies are low or non-existent, or intelligence on equipment is non-existent, to appropriate the equipment of the other side."

"So it's alright to steal from them because its war?" Rachel asked.

"That would be the army's point of view," Reginald spoke.

"But most of these people are likely only misguided British citizens," Beth commented, "not some foreign invader."

"You'd likely be stealing from your own people if you did that," Coyote added, "might not be the smartest thing to do."

"It may be the only thing we can do," Reginald spoke, "they're ringing this area with powerful fixed fortifications… which we can not easily defeat… mostly because of our lack of men and material. We'd have to go around them anyway, whether or not we use a vehicle."

There was a silence for a few moments.

"And if things run right, maybe our fairy friend here can make them all sleep," Reginald commented, "they're likely expecting an all out assault… not something that subtle."

"If they expect my use of magic, they'll likely be protected against ANYTHING I might be able to do in that regard," Coyote warned, deciding not to correct the man on how his race preferred to be addressed, "I might be able to raise something to distract them, but if they're smart any direct on them will be 'deflected' by some protection spell."

"I thought you said that us mere 'mortals' are no threat to you?" the driver wondered.

"Generally, no, humans and gargoyles AREN'T a threat to the Fey," Coyote answered, "but that doesn't make us invincible, and to be honest, many fey have let the perception of their own magics to forget that. They acted in arrogance against mortals and commonly paid the price for it. And we have our own vulnerabilities that are not weaknesses of mortals or even halflings."

"Halflings?" the driver asked.

"A person of mixed human or gargoyle AND fey heritage," Merlin explained.

"Usually human," Coyote spoke, "gargoyles traditionally do not breed with anyone BUT other gargoyles. Not really out of hatred or prejudice, but in many cases man only tolerated their presence, so opportunities for interspecies romance were extremely limited… not that those cases didn't happen from time to time. Goliath and Elisa Maza weren't the first human and gargoyle to fall in love with one another."

"That has nothing to do with the present situation," Reginald spoke, "you say we need to get back to London. And the Illuminati have INVADED Britain. If getting to London is important, we must do so quickly. The longer we wait, the more time they have to put us in a position where it will not matter WHAT we do."

"Can we get a vehicle?" Arthur asked after a moment.

Reginald turned to Coyote, and said, "with the right help we can."

"Couldn't we go around?" Beth wondered from where she was, "stealing something doesn't sit right with me."

"It doesn't sit well with me, either," Arthur nodded in agreement, "it lacks chivalry… but I would suppose we do not have much choice."

"And we'll likely have to go around Rochester anyway, but it will be easier if we can get some truck or van rather then walking," Reginald spoke.

"That is assuming that they don't call in an air strike on us," the driver commented, "trucks aren't protected against missiles."

"Neither really are tanks, though," Merlin commented, "armor doesn't make anything impervious, and our mission isn't to fight for the moment, it's to get back to London."

"So, what is your idea for getting a vehicle?" Coyote asked Reginald directly, "other then needing my help directly.

**London**

"We ought to send a rescue party," Griff spoke, "Get them back here as soon as possible."

"And where might they be?" Leo asked, "I want to see Arthur and the others back just as much as you do… but it's an awful lot of ground to cover… even from the air. And we don't have the numbers to both try to protect London from the Illuminati and go looking throughout southeastern England for Arthur."

Griff growled at that.

"We couldn't even protect London," he grumbled, sounding depressed at that.

"I'm afraid that was inevitable," Macbeth said as he entered the room, "it's too big an organization… and technically they were already in London before the 'invasion'. They had us well outnumbered."

"Surely we can do something though, can't we?" Lancelot asked from where he was, "stop them… or at least slow them down…"

"We'd need to find out where they're permanently basing their made headquarters at first," Macbeth commented, "and then gather some intelligence somehow on what they plan to do…"

"And still that wouldn't without risks," Una warned, "we need to wait for Arthur and Merlin to return with the others. If you confront the Illuminati now, they may decide it is not worth it to leave us alone as they have… and Arthur and Merlin will need all of us when they arrive. If they return to find us dead… or too weak to fight, all of it would be for nothing."

"I still do not like this," Griff spoke, "it feels like we're on the bloody sidelines while the home team is shorthanded against the strongest football (soccer for all Americans) club in the country."

"I do not like it either, but neither do we have a choice," Macbeth spoke, "for the moment, we can only hope that the army holds out where it is for the moment."

"No one likes these situations," Octavia spoke with Julia nodding beside her.

**Elsewhere in London**

Two meanwhile settled into what was the main suite of a major hotel chain in London. Things were largely going well for the Illuminati. Most of the British Isles were officially theirs, and the sections that the British army was holding out in, were being pushed back. It was Arthur and reports about behind the lines attacks that concerned him now. Arthur and Macbeth would both surely cause problems, and technically already had by capturing Six, and he had finally received reports from Northern Ireland. Apparently, the legendary 'Hound' of Ulster had reawakened and had sided against the Illuminati. All of this screamed of Pendragon's scheme to destroy the Illuminati, and Two knew he needed to catch the 'Once and Future King' one way or another, and soon.

"Things are progressing well, sir," a general loyal to the Illuminati reported, "those opposed to the Council in Wales are beginning to crack and should be forced to surrender soon… those pushed into Scotland are holding out… but it is only a matter of time before they are forced to withdraw from their current lines."

"The British army is not my concern," Two answered, "they were beaten from the moment the attack began… mostly as the Council has insured that Britain's neighbors all consider this 'war' to be an internal affair… which means no French, Belgian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, or Norwegian troops coming to the aide of the Royal Army. Our concern is Pendragon and his allies."

"We haven't received any reports on him since he defeated one small force during the initial invasion," the general answered, "can we be certain he hasn't been killed… or gone into hiding."

"It could be possible that someone has killed him… but then why hasn't that been reported, to us or a local police station?" Two spoke, "and Pendragon is no coward. He will fight to bring about his supposed glory on Earth… not knowing that his time has LONG passed. It is the Illuminati that will save the world, not Pendragon."

"I have defenses being established ringing every town and city ringing every city and village between here and where Pendragon appeared in Britain," the general spoke firmly, "he won't get here without running into trouble."

"Maintain some helicopter patrols in case goes by foot around the cities," Two advised, "he may decide to go around our strong points."

The general nodded.

**Rochester**

Coyote, in the form of a Welsh Corgi, moved quietly through the streets of the occupied city. He was looking for any vehicle that might be able to carry the group and allow them to make better time in getting to London. As he did so, he also paid close attention the activity of the people on the streets that he passed.

Nearly all of them were Illuminati men in red and black commando gear, sporting the organization's insignia somewhere on their uniform. He quietly noted that most of the citizens of the city were likely staying indoors and out of the way of the Illuminati, or had fled when the invasion began. It left the city with a rather empty feeling, but it also gave Coyote some guess at what was there.

Mostly enemies on the street. Those not part of the Illuminati's war were off the streets, which meant that so long as high explosives weren't used on the city, dealing with the Illuminati men in Rochester would be easier then originally anticipated. But then, most mortal countermeasures to the Fey were commonly some form of a protection spell laced with Iron. Coyote knew he wouldn't be able to know if such actions had been taken until he did something more direct with his magic. For the moment though, he decided to maintain his disguise as a small dog that was fairly popular in the UK.

Trying to find a suitable vehicle was not easy. There were a few military vehicles in the city, but all of them were guarded by Illuminati men and Coyote didn't want to have to fight them before he absolutely had to. That left him looking for a civilian vehicle that could carry them all… and then hope that the keys were left in it. He didn't like it as it would mean stealing from innocent bystanders, but Reginald did have a point about the Illuminati attack being something like a war. They couldn't just tie their hands and let the Illuminati do whatever it took to kill Arthur or Merlin.

He mostly hoped that he could find a suitable vehicle that they could use and then come up with a suitable course of action to either get the others to the vehicle or get the vehicle to them. As he passed an old market building, he finally got some sense of good luck. It was an old supply truck, currently not in use because of the Illuminati occupation. While the keys weren't in the ignition, they were in the vehicle, and Coyote could sense it. It wouldn't last long if the Illuminati fired on it, particularly with the military vehicles they had gathered… but then, most modern military armored vehicles weren't even using steel for their armor anymore because of its weight. They were using different transition metals in a layered approach. As Coyote thought this over, this did give him some ideas on how to get through the Illuminati defenses.

Once he mapped out the route to get to the truck in his head, Coyote turned and began to run back to where Arthur and the others were waiting for him, while doing his best to look for all the world like just another stray dog running loose. It was rather difficult, give the Corgi's small size and short legs, but Coyote was successful in this, and he found the others patiently waiting for him.

"Did you find anything?" Reginald was the first to ask, as much of the current operation was his idea.

"And old supply truck, it should hold us all," Coyote answered.

"What about a military vehicle?" Reginald asked, "something with better defensive capabilities?"

"The Illuminati is guarding them too well," Coyote responded, "I think I can sneak us into Rochester to get to the truck… but taking one of their vehicles would require a direct fight, which I would think would only give us more trouble."

"You can get us in?" Merlin asked.

"I think so," Coyote nodded, "and I might be able to even deal with their vehicles if they move to pursue us once we are in."

"So who owns this truck?" Rachael asked after a few moments.

"It's privately owned, but like Reginald said earlier, I don't think we have much of a choice," Coyote sighed, "Unless you want to draw all of the available Illuminati troops in this part of Britain to Rochester."

"You're certain this is the only way?" Beth asked, "Couldn't we go to the river and sail to London?"

"It'd take time without an engine," Merlin commented.

"Not to mention that we'd be a more conspicuous target that way with no defense," Reginald added, "for the moment while on land, if we're attacked from the air, we can at least abandon the vehicle and take cover. We wouldn't able to do that in a boat."

Beth only sighed and wondered how Elisa managed to deal with matters such as these. Now, she was sure the Manhattan clan wasn't in the middle of a war zone, but the intense strategic discussions were something that she knew the New York gargoyles engaged in. Mostly to deal with various threats and criminals.

"So how do you plan to get in?" Arthur asked after Beth and Rachael sighed heavily.

Meanwhile in one of the machine gun nests that had been hastily set up as part of the defensive ring around Rochester, two soldiers looked out toward the grounds to the east of the city.

"Still nothing," the first man grumbled, "I think the Council has over-hyped Pendragon's abilities. If he had some fey with him, he would have attacked by now."

"Or maybe the legends over-hyped his bravery," the other said.

As he said that a thick fog seemed to roll in from the north, off waters that would form the river Thames closer to London. It came in quickly which the first man identified as magically influenced.

"They're starting something now!" the fast man said and manned his gun looking for any sign of movement in the fog.

He blinked when he saw a faint light in the fog directly in front of them. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it gave away the position of something.

"They must not have thought this through before they began it," the second man commented, "they raise a fog to try and sneak through and are then foiled by the very fog they call in."

"Not that I'm complaining," the first man muttered and opened up with his machine gun on the spot where the light was, and as the other machine gun nests opened on the same spot.

They fired for a few minutes at that spot until the light vanished.

"I think I got 'em," the first smiled.

Their joy didn't last long as the wooden door to their 'bunker' was knocked in from the outside. They turned to see a brown furred female werewolf in a jumpsuit that fit her tightly. Her eyes gave off a slight yellowish glow as what little light was in the area was reflected off of them. Rachael wasted no time and grabbed each man by the head and slammed their heads together, being careful not to leave any claw marks on them, and thus spread her lycanthropy. Once they were out cold, she clapped her hands and moved out of the bunker.

On her way out she saw Reginald leave the machine gun nest/bunker to her left with Arthur and the others standing inside an improvised system of trenches. Reginald was cleaning a field knife he was carrying.

"You didn't kill him did you?" Rachael asked.

"This is war," Reginald gave a pained sigh, "I do not like this anymore then you. But these people have made their choice and are prepared to kill us. They fired every gun they had at the flare Coyote strategically sent to appear in front of their guns… there are times, Ms. Winters when we must do things that are not something that we like."

"We'd best keep moving," Coyote spoke, once again disguised as a Corgi, to hopefully give them some surprise, "they have other troops throughout the city."

The group slowly nodded, and Rachael lead the way, with her keen 'night' vision, enhanced sense of smell, and sharp hearing allowing them to know where they were going through the fog. Coyote ran beside her to give them directions to the truck he had found. Arthur and Merlin followed them, with Arthur looking toward their flanks in case anyone tried to jump them. Then came Beth and the gargoyle hatchlings, who were all nervous considering that Rachael was in wolf form for the moment. The driver tried to keep up with Beth, and Reginald brought up the rear to provide some protection.

The trek to the grocery was relatively quiet as they didn't run into anyone on the way. This gave Rachael some relief as she didn't like the idea of having to kill fellow countrymen and or women to save the country from the Illuminati. But her, for the moment, triangular ears did pick up the sound of vehicular engines and boots in the distance. It wouldn't be long before they run into more trouble.

"They're hunting us," Rachael whispered.

"Of course they are," Coyote responded as he returned to human form in a flash of light, "we sneaked through their lines, killed at least one Illuminati soldier, and are preparing to head on toward London. They need to find us before we get out of Rochester… or they'll likely fail to stop us from getting to London, which I think is their objective."

"I wonder why though," Beth wondered as they all began climbing into the back of the truck, with the driver getting behind the wheel, "didn't the 'cure' you found for whatever that Illuminati guy did to Merlin require you to go to Stonehenge in order to reverse what he did?"

"It does," Merlin nodded.

"So why invade the entire country?" Beth wondered, "why not focus on Stonehenge itself. It seems a little overboard to me."

"They may know we've been traveling by Avalon's magic," Arthur commented, "and since its magic can not be predicted in any way… as we can not tell where we were needed beforehand… they likely took this step to make sure they had men ready for us wherever we might have landed."

"Still seems overboard to me," Beth commented as she helped the last hatchling into the back of the truck.

"Fanatics do that," Reginald spoke from the cab where he was seated beside the driver, "and it's usually why they have to be stopped."

"Hopefully we can do that before too much more damage is done," Arthur sighed heavily.

The driver took them out onto the road and they began to drive toward London. Coyote stood in the bed of the truck holding on to a rail to try to look ahead and behind the truck, using his magic to see through the fog and helping the driver as well. As the driver rounded a corner, he saw a British armored car, an Alvis Saladin rumbling down the road at high speed, as if to try and cut them off.

"Incoming!" Reginald shouted.

"I see it," Coyote answered and chanted something quietly, in case the Illuminati had put some sort of enhanced audio sensor in the vehicle.

A massive stone 'speed bump' then raised immediately between two of the Saladin's wheels and went up to he point where the wheel's couldn't go over it. The sound of metal grinding against stone echoed through the fog as the armored car was now stranded where it was.

"Turn onto a different street," Coyote yelled too the driver as he noticed the vehicle's main gun tracking them.

The driver turned down a side street just as the Saladin's main gun fired, narrowly missing them and hitting the road in front of where they had been. Merlin and Beth raised their arms to shelter themselves from the shattered road material that resulted from the impact of the shell. The driver, meanwhile, threw up out the window as he went a block and turned onto a different street.

"Tel me when I wake up from this nightmare," the driver said after a few moments.

"Just stay ready," Reginald told the driver, "Coyote reported that they have at least one more Saladin here and they likely have more on the way."

**The Mansion**

Gawain, Guinevere, and Lancelot were the first group to return from what had been the London clan's attempt to locate where the Illuminati had moved their operation to. The warehouse area around London was largely abandoned other then what was obvious work to setup a supply line for the pro-Illuminati forces, but nothing had been there to give any indication of where the Illuminati had moved their headquarters to.

"Any luck?" Macbeth asked.

"None," Lancelot grumbled, "they got guys around, but none that look important."

Guinevere nodded, "I think they were all dockyard workers who agree with these Illuminati people."

"Wonderful," Macbeth grumbled.

"Did they manage to contact you?" Lancelot asked.

"No," Macbeth sighed heavily, "they have not."

The three new arrivals from Avalon sighed at his response.

"Did they attack here?" Gawain asked after a few moments.

"No," Macbeth answered, "which puzzles me. They know we have one of their council members as our prisoner. They likely suspect that we have some of their various allies here as prisoners as well. Given that they've come out into the open here, one would think that they'd come directly here and try to get rid of the foes that already knew of their existence… especially considering that Arthur and his group are still alive, they will try to come here."

"Best not to see unexpected generosity as a bad thing," came Octavia's voice as she, Julia, and Griff came in to land near them on the roof the mansion.

Macbeth looked up to see the two Roman and one English gargoyle land.

"Did you find anything?" Macbeth asked once they had landed.

"Nothing definite, but there seemed to be a lot of in and out activity around one of the main hotels here in London," Griff reported, "and given that most non-Illuminati people fled the city during the invasion, I would guess that that is a center of their activity."

"But you're not sure?" Macbeth answered.

"Getting closer to find out would have risked being spotted an attacked," Julia commented, "I was under the assumption that this was only a scouting mission."

Macbeth nodded, "we'll keep an eye on the building then. If it is their headquarters, we'll see a lot of activity… though you will need binoculars to check if anyone inside is using the phone for something."

The others then nodded in agreement.

**Elsewhere In London**

Two quietly picked up his cell-phone in the hotel room that was the new Illuminati headquarters in Britain. The report came from an agent from one of the cities around southern England.

"This Agent Rule," the agent reported, "we've had Pendragon activity around Rochester."

"Where is he?" Two demanded, "Do you have him?"

"No," Agent Rule answered, "there were problems… the fey with them brought in a thick fog that has completely grounded our helicopters and slowed down our ground forces, and then pulled some trick with a flare to get through our outer defenses. From there they stole a truck and moved toward London. The fog moves with them."

"Are you pursuing them?" Two questioned.

"They've managed to stall or vehicles when they tried to pursue," Agent Rule answered, "and until this fog clears our helicopters are useless."

"HOW COULD THEY HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH YOU! YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" Two yelled as it appeared that the men in Rochester had barely done anything to prevent Pendragon from moving toward London.

"From what you told us, we expected Pendragon to launch some form of all out attack against us," Agent Rule defended, "Sneaking around was not in Pendragon's personality profile, and Merlin did not engage in any form of combat."

"The information on the fey with them detailed his persona as a trickster of the American desert southwest," Two reminded him, "sneaking around is very much in a trickster's back of tricks."

"He would let a trickster plan his battles?" Agent Rule asked.

"He would accept a trickster's advice provided that it helps him achieve his ultimate goal of reversing what was done to Merlin," Two answered, "Which means he must not get to Stonehenge."

"Then why not defend Stonehenge only?" Agent Rule questioned, "this entire invasion has brought us into the open in the UK, and will likely make others suspicious. By defending one small area we could have hidden it better."

"Possibly, but Arthur wouldn't need everyone to reverse what's been done to Merlin… in fact Merlin could do it on his own," Two answered, "Arthur and his allies would engage in a battle of deception and allow Merlin to find a way to sneak into Stonehenge from a different direction. We must catch them before they have a chance to launch such a plan. They're headed for London, likely to converse with Macbeth. I expect your unit begin pursuing Pendragon vigorously. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," Agent Rule responded.

**On the Road**

"Can we lower the fog?" the driver asked as they drove along, "it'd make it a lot easier for me to see."

"It would also help the Illuminati see, and they would send helicopters," Coyote answered, "the heavy fog will keep them grounded."

"Technology is such that fog isn't that much of a hindrance when it comes to firing their weapons," Reginald commented, "we still give off body heat… and the truck's engine will give off engine heat which can attract missiles."

"Yes, but without a tracking signal, they would still need to see where they are aiming their weapons," Coyote answered, "If they're not careful, they could easily fire a round in the wrong direction and the weapon would pick up on the wrong target. That and the fog will make taking off and landing more dangerous."

The driver only sighed as they continued driving along the way. They passed Gravesend and Dartford without problems, but as they came closer to London, that is where they hit problems. The truck drove into a deep trench that was wide enough that the front half of the vehicle fell into it. The crash through everyone about. The driver and Reginald didn't have that much trouble as they were buckled in. The rest slid down the bed of the truck hard.

No one was seriously harmed, but Coyote was forced to give the gargoyle hatchlings human form to prevent their stone forms from shattering when they hit the back of the cab of the truck. They all began screaming in terror and pain.

"What have you done to us!" one of them, a female screamed at Coyote.

"Saved you lives, as we've fallen into a bit of trouble," Coyote answered.

"We're human!" a male protested.

"Would you rather be dead and in several pieces?" Coyote asked back.

"No," the first female admitted.

"We do not have time for this," Merlin spoke as he managed to get up and help Beth up as well, "we need to get into the city before they can track us down."

"Anyone coming?" Arthur asked to Rachael, who was still in wolf form.

"I hear footsteps coming from the north and from the south," Rachael answered, "they know we're here."

"Great," Arthur sighed and turned to Coyote, "how far away are they?"

"About a hundred yards away and approaching tentatively," Coyote spoke, "they can't see well through the fog."

"We need to get into the city before they arrive," Merlin spoke, "we can not afford a battle here."

Arthur readied Excalibur and the electric blaster Macbeth had given him for the journey.

"We'll take the hatchlings and try to make our way into the city," Arthur spoke, "Rachael and Reginald, can you cover us?"

Both female werewolf and male soldier nodded.

"What about me?" the driver asked.

"You'll be with Merlin, Beth, and I," Arthur answered, "escorting the transformed hatchlings… Coyote, I leave you free to help whomever you feel needs it… or to stay out of things in accordance with Oberon's Law."

"I've probably already broken that several times dealing with the Illuminati," Coyote shrugged, "and I'm sure Titania will overlook it when Beth and I tell her how important your situation was."

They were all quick to move. The driver scrambled up the side of the trench that the truck had crashed into to follow Arthur, Merlin, Beth, and the transformed hatchlings as they moved toward the city. Rachael and Reginald moved to take positions to cover whatever attack the pro-Illuminati troops would make against them. Coyote, meanwhile, stood on the roof of the cab, waiting to see needed help the most.

Reginald sat in a semi crouched position to the west of the trench that the truck had crashed into, and stayed just far enough away from the truck that he felt he was in no danger of being caught in an explosion if the truck's gas tank was hit in the firefight he was sure was coming. After a few moments of waiting, he saw ten men come down the trench with their rifles at the ready and dressed in red and black commando gear.

"Surrender, NOW!" the lead Illuminati commando shouted when he managed to make out Reginald's outline through the fog.

"Go to hell!" Reginald challenged back and opened fire on the attacking Illuminati commandos.

The first three Illuminati commandos were killed outright by Reginald's shots with a fourth receiving a wound to the shoulder, forcing the group to scramble back slightly.

"You're outnumbered and we aren't the only troops coming after you!" one of the remaining six unharmed Illuminati men yelled at him.

"Then I'll die a free man!" Reginald yelled back and fired again, this time missing as the fog obscured his line of sight a bit.

All six men fired in Reginald's general direction, pinning him down while the wounded man, staying low in the trench to avoid receiving anymore wounds at the hands of the soldier on Arthur's side, readied a grenade and lobbed it up toward Reginald. The British soldier saw the grenade and was only just able to dive away to avoid being caught by the blast, but in doing so, found himself laying face down in the trench with the Illuminati commandos standing over him.

"Surrender!" highest ranking commando out of the remaining six ordered as they leveled their weapons at Reginald.

None of them got much of a chance to do that as a green glow surrounded their weapons and they were all taken from them.

"Now, now," Coyote joked as he hopped down, knowing that the thick fog had kept them from knowing he was there, "didn't your mothers tell you it was rude to point?"

"Not half as rude as this," one Illuminati commando smiled and pulled a small iron bell out from a pouch on his uniform and began shaking it heavily.

The sound of ringing iron made Coyote scream with pain, and his hold on the Illuminati commandos' weapons was broken. The weapons all simply dropped to the ground in a circle around the commandos. The southwestern fey's move, however, bought Reginald the time to fire again. Killing the closest three Illuminati commandos and forcing the other three to retreat back into the fog, forgetting their weapons entirely and their wounded comrade, who was staggering back up the trench and away from the battle.

"You okay?" Reginald asked.

"No," Coyote said weakly, "that bell was made of iron… one of my race's few weaknesses."

"I thought you said your kind had nothing to fear from us mortals?" Reginald questioned as he reloaded his weapon and began collecting the ones the commandos left behind.

"Generally we don't," Coyote spoke in gasps, "but that doesn't make us invincible… iron… the use of it, either as a weapon to fight with, armor to protect from our magics, or as a bell to use the vibration of the metal are all dangerous to my race, and even the strongest of us can fall to it. But few ever really have. Mostly because we try to avoid the metal at all costs, and because many of us have tried to coexist with people. It's actually been a few scattered groups of… well… evil fey that have found themselves killed by iron weapons or bells when they attacked man and man learned of our weakness."

"So you're not out to conquer us when this is over?" Reginald asked as he helped Coyote up.

"No, and neither does the Seelie Court," Coyote explained.

"Good to know," Reginald sighed, "Good to know."

Rachael, meanwhile, kept her body as low as possible. Her golden eyes could make figures out through the fog better then Reginald's could… but with them armed with guns and outnumbering her, they didn't need to truly see her clearly… and she didn't know if they had rounds made of silver or not. And she really didn't want to test that.

After a few moments her eyes picked up the outline of a group of men moving down the trench toward the crashed truck. They couldn't see her yet, as she was using her lycanthropic abilities to see through the thick fog, and they were surprisingly not using some technological device to try and aide their eyesight.

Rachael didn't stop to ponder why, and once they came within range, she lunged forward and swung one closed fist in a downward arch, catching three of the commandos and knocking about half of them to the ground as her larger size and momentum couldn't be stopped by three men.

"Surrender!" Rachael growled, checking to make sure she hadn't accidentally clawed any of the commandos, taking one of the guns that the first five had lost and breaking it easily in half.

She hadn't clawed anyone but the remaining five stood their ground.

"Filthy lycan," the first growled and fired two shots.

Rachael managed to dodge the first shot, but the second caught her in her left shoulder and went clean through her. It wasn't a fatal wound, but Rachael felt the most intense burning sensation as the round went through her body… and the area still burned a little even after the bullet had continued on.

"Silver burns, doesn't it, lycan?" the soldier taunted as he approached, ready to finish Rachael off while she was recovering.

Rachael only spat back, getting the feeling that this was the end for her. The Illuminati commando, however, never got a chance to fire on her as a series of shots came down and hit him and two others in the chest. The remaining two standing commandos looked up to see Reginald standing by the truck with his own rifle aimed at them, while other two commandos that Rachael had initially knocked down began to scramble away.

The two then fired at where Reginald was, but he ducked behind the truck again as the shots either hit the wooden railings of the truck or passed harmlessly off into the night. Rachael capitalized on the distraction and lunged forward and grabbed both commandos by the face and slammed them down, knocking them out. Once she made sure they were out cold, and not infected with lycanthropy, she turned to where Reginald was.

"You okay?" he asked.

"About as well as I can be," Rachael answered, "they didn't hit a vital organ, so I'll heal… in time."

"Good," Reginald responded, "did you kill them?"

"No," Rachael answered, "I still don't see the reason to. They're confused… misinformed… not some foreign enemy…"

"And one of them was about to kill you," Reginald countered, "they may not be thinking correctly, but it's clear that they're willing to take that step."

"I'm still no killer," Rachael answered, "Never have been. Never will be."

"Never is a long time," Reginald warned with a sigh, "and there may come a time when you have to do something you do not like."

"I know," Rachael responded.

"Let's get back to Arthur and the others before these guys regroup," Coyote spoke weakly as they climbed up on the other side of the trench.

Arthur's group didn't seem to run into anyone initially as no one seemed to be coming to meet them head on. They then ducked into an alley to provide them with some cover to protect themselves from any possible attack and to let the rest of the group either catch up or catch their breath.

"You okay?" Arthur asked the driver.

"This is more running then I do in a year," the driver spoke in gasps.

"It'd actually be good for you if it weren't the fact that you're running for your life and expecting to be attacked at any moment," Beth commented.

"I would have thought we would have actually run into someone by now," Arthur commented, "they moved on the truck from two sides… why not have another force watching to make sure that we do go up the middle of their line."

"Maybe the overall invasion is spreading them thinner then they'd like," Merlin spoke, "remember that the Illuminati, in theory, controls the entire globe… they can't afford to send all they have against one spot for fear of another rebellion brewing elsewhere… especially when you consider what's currently going on in China."

"At least the Illuminati is losing there," the driver gasped.

"Maybe, but sometimes it is better to have the evil you know rather then the evil you don't know," Merlin told him, "we don't know anything about Khan… and for all we know, he could be worse then the Illuminati."

Arthur meanwhile listened to the sounds of battle going on back where the truck was. It sounded fierce and he hoped that everything would be okay with the others. He didn't get much of a chance to think back on that when three men came out through the fog and aimed their weapons at him. They were all dressed in red and black commando gear.

"Surrender, Pendragon," the first commando demanded.

"Not while there are free people that need defending as he swung Excalibur in an upward slash, slicing through the rifle the first of the three commandos' rifles while firing the electric blaster at the second man, knocking him into the third man.

The first tried to fire, but with his weapon sliced in half, it jammed without firing a round, and with his comrades recovering from the shock from the electric blaster, was forced into close combat with Arthur. He dodged a kick, but ended up taking the follow-up blow squarely on the forehead. He wasn't killed, but the blow did leave the outline of Excalibur's hilt there. The blow knocked him to the ground and he was quickly knocked out with a blast from the electric blaster.

"So now the once and future king uses modern weapons!" the second commando snarled as he leaped up and tackled Arthur, sending both the blaster and Excalibur flying.

"Not everyone clings to the past," Arthur answered, as he took the commando's momentum and used it against him, sending him flying into the alley wall and knocking him out.

The third man was about to fire when he was hit by a blast of electricity that send him tumbling back and knocking him out. Arthur then looked over to see Merlin holding the electric blaster at the ready.

"Thanks, old friend," Arthur spoke.

"It is not a problem," Merlin told him.

Two more men appeared at the other end of the alley with their weapons aimed at Beth, the driver, and the transformed hatchlings. Beth nervously looked at the commandos and clutched the stone in her pocket. Coyote said it contained Avalon's magic… or something like that, and that she had channeled its energies once already. She didn't really want to use it, but unless Rachael, Coyote, or Reginald showed up within the next few seconds, she might have to.

"Hands in the air woman!" the first of the two commandos growled, "DO IT NOW!"

Beth nervously backed away, clutching the stone in her hand, with it glowing faintly. The commando didn't notice it glowing in her pocket.

"I said hands in the air!" the commando yelled at her.

Beth glanced back to see Arthur and Merlin dealing with the others and knew that if she surrendered, they would turn and shoot them in the back. Elisa and her father had taught her basic self-defense, though that didn't seem to fit with the situation she was in, but she also knew she couldn't let Arthur be killed.

"Fine," Beth said as firmly as she could manage and pulled the stone out and pointed it at the commandos attempting to attack them and shouted, "SLEEP!"

The shot of green light erupted from the rock and enveloped the commandos. When it faded, both Beth and the driver were looking down on two sleeping commandos.

"You're a witch?" the driver asked.

"No," Beth answered, "I just happen to have a stone that posses a lot of natural magic… which for some reason lets me channel it."

"You saved us," a female 'hatchling' spoke in awe.

Beth nodded and placed the stone back in her pocket, "my family has a special affinity for gargoyles. I would never let you come to harm."

"Thank you," said a male 'hatchling', "can you turn us back?"

"It was Coyote's spell that transformed you," Beth spoke, "and I'm not skilled enough in magic to do anything that deliberate. You'll have to wait until we get back to wherever Arthur and Merlin live hear in London before he can do that."

The transformed hatchlings slowly nodded as Rachael, Coyote, and Reginald approached. Rachael had a shoulder wound, which was healing quickly, but was still noticeable. Coyote looked a little weak, but was otherwise okay. Reginald didn't look like he was hurt in any way.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked as they approached.

"As good as we can be," Reginald answered, "though we need to get off the main streets and do as little as possible to attract attention. We may have broken through their initial attack forces, that doesn't mean they have others looking for us elsewhere."

"I'd better shift back then," Rachael sighed, "seven foot wolf women aren't something one sees everyday."

**The Mansion, Later**

It was hours later when they made it back to the mansion. They hadn't run into any further trouble, but they were slowed by spotting various armed trucks and other military vehicles dive along at intersections ahead of them. But things seemed to be quiet once they made it to the street the mansion was on and they rushed to get to the entrance.

Arthur, though, jumped when he opened the door to find Macbeth with his electric blasters ready.

"Arthur!" Macbeth gasped after a few moments and lowered his weapons, "you made it…"

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "with a little help from friends."

Macbeth looked to see the additional people with Arthur. Una had reported of the extras that had ended up joining them during their journey to find what Merlin needed to cure himself of the loss of his powers. He recognized Elisa's younger sister and Coyote, but Reginald, the driver, and a group of human children were all new. And the human children made him curious. He had been told they had found gargoyle hatchlings. These children were human.

"Where are the hatchlings that were with you?" Macbeth asked, "Una told me you had freed several hatchlings along the way."

"The children ARE the hatchlings," Coyote spoke, "we had a little run in with Illuminati commandos on the outskirts of London, and couldn't carry several stone statues and fight them off at the same time."

"I see," Macbeth nodded, and then growled heavily, "I suppose that is to be expected. They're everywhere on this island."

"How bad is it?" Arthur asked.

"Bad enough," Macbeth answered, "the army's been driven into Wales and Scotland and the most northern parts of Northern Ireland and the news, controlled by the Illuminati, will not reveal how long they are likely to hold out."

Arthur sighed.

"We need to find a way to draw the Illuminati's attention away from the battlefronts and more towards us directly," Macbeth spoke, "because our only hope is going to be that the British soldiers not loyal to the Illuminati win the present fight."

"We might have done a bit of that already," Reginald stepped forward, "I'm a soldier of the British army and have had the honor of standing beside a legend. May I ask who you are?"

"I've called myself many names, mostly because some things we don't have time for," Macbeth answered, "You may call me, Macbeth."

"It's a long story," Merlin spoke before Reginald could ask, "I'm sure you'll hear it when we have time… as for distracting the Illuminati, now that we have the means of curing what they did to me at Stonehenge, I would assume that that distraction is easy. We simply need to leave for Stonehenge and make sure that they know we are headed there… they'll then move forces accordingly to try and prevent me from regaining my powers."

"And you're certain this will work?" Macbeth asked.

"It might be our only chance," Merlin said nervously.

**To Be Continued…**


	31. Once and Future King: Revealed

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one day after "Reunited".

Once And Future King: Revealed

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**The Mansion**

Arthur and Merlin sat quietly as Macbeth and Griff explained everything that had gone on in London as a result of the Illuminati 'invasion'. A part of him was very much relieved, while another part was very nervous.

"They've left you alone?" Arthur asked, "Not even bothered to rescue the members that they captured?"

"That puzzles me a bit," Macbeth admitted, "My best guess is that you're so much of a threat to them that they do not care about what I've done."

"But you said you have one of their Council members," Merlin pointed out, "surely that would be someone they'd want to liberate."

"One would guess that," Macbeth commented, "I don't really know why. Maybe their internal infrastructure is good enough that they can sustain and replace their losses, maybe the one we captured was unpopular, or maybe they're simply waiting for the final battle with you to come and get him."

"All of this is troubling," Arthur sighed, "especially if they're doing this because they feel I am a threat to them. I have no intention of toppling their organization… to be honest, I have no political ambitions. The House of Windsor is the ruling house now."

"And that is where you've probably made a mistake," Macbeth warned, "the soldier could prove helpful, but the truck driver has no training, and the Maza girl… well she is not the warrior her sister is. And the Fey is likely to only stay as long as Titania allows him to."

"The truck driver is free to go, although it may be difficult to find a safe place for him if the Illuminati decides to hunt him down," Merlin answered, "and while Beth Maza is not the police trained gargoyle that Elisa is now, her skills as a physician could prove invaluable. Not all of us have your immortality."

"She is a general practitioner, if we end up fighting battles, what we would need is an actual surgeon," Macbeth informed them, "trust me. I know."

"I'm sure," Griff nodded, "the stuff many RAF blokes suffered through in the Blitz was pretty rough too… although I don't know where or how we could find an actual surgeon."

Arthur and Merlin nodded in agreement to that. Macbeth conceded the point.

"I am just stating a point," Macbeth warned, "It may be safer for her if we could find a way to send her to New York until all of this could 'power' down."

Arthur and Merlin nodded again, but the 'argument' had been settled.

Meanwhile Leo was showing Reginald and Coyote the makeshift cells that they had their prisoners in.

"How have you been able to hold them…?" Reginald asked curiously.

"Magical reinforcement, I sense," Coyote commented, "won't stop them outright, but they'd be to tired to go any farther once they got out of the cell."

Leo nodded, "The bigger problem is that we have all the 'cells' we have full. We can't take any more prisoners. We don't have the room for them."

"You've been able to feed them?" Reginald questioned.

"Of course," Leo nodded, "Macbeth saw to it that we were well stocked when the mansion was procured, and even with that… no one has stopped him so far when he's gone to get food."

"Strange," Reginald spoke, "If they're running this like an invasion, they should be making sure that all potential enemies DON'T eat."

"Nothing about all of this has made any sense to me, sir," Leo told the soldier.

"Still, it might be safer to move them," Reginald then commented after a few moments, "having them here invites them attacking this place in force."

"Move them where though?" Leo asked, "from what the news on the teley has said, the anti-Illuminati forces have been driven into the mountains of Scotland and those in Wales have either surrendered or retreated to the islands between Britain and Ireland. We go driving around with these people, and we're bound to invite trouble."

Reginald then sighed. He was trying to offer suggestions based on his training, and so far the situation was proving far more complicated then his training could handle.

"Perhaps Avalon would be a better prison," Coyote suggested, "Titania's restored many of the safeguards that protect the island. Unless the Illuminati find an escaped fey from the Unseelie War or have the mortal incantation for the journey they can't go to Avalon."

"What about Oberon's Law?" Leo asked, "Titania may not like you interfering in 'mortal affairs'."

"They've already endangered a member of Clan Maza, whom I've long sworn to protect," Coyote answered, "that would trump Oberon's law… though Titania probably still won't be happy, but she is reasonable in many ways that Oberon wasn't."

"Avalon?" Reginald questioned.

"Original home of the Third Race," Coyote explained, "and don't worry about there being the worry of a 'foreign' power entering into a 'civil' war. Doing so would violate Oberon's Law, which commands that my race not interfere in the lives of mortals without invitation."

"I see," Reginald answered, not really understanding everything. A race of magical people with laws against messing things weaker then them?

He didn't say anything more as he didn't really know everything about this race that he had only just learned of, but if they could help in any way, it sounded like a good idea.

"It'd still be best to clear this up with Merlin, Arthur, and Macbeth," Leo commented, "it might be important for them to know about this idea of yours, Coyote."

Of course.

And in yet another section of the mansion, Beth was looking over the room she had been given to sleep in while she and Coyote were there.

"Thank you again for the room," Beth spoke politely.

"It is of no trouble," Una spoke from the doorway, "To be honest the mansion has more rooms then it has potential occupants."

"A shame this war is going on," Beth gave a weak chuckle, "you could make a fortune renting rooms out."

Una gave a weak chuckle as well, but mostly to acknowledge the joke.

"We generally prefer our privacy," Una told her, "before this war started, we were able to maintain ourselves through our owning of the shop, Macbeth's stockpiled fortune and pay from the university, and Arthur's clients."

"The Illuminati attack must have stopped a lot of that cold," Beth said weakly, not knowing what to say.

Una nodded, "We hope that we can find some way to slow them down, but something is telling me that the country will not return to the way it was."

"But don't you deserve a good future?" Beth asked confused.

"That will be dependent on what happens in the future," Una told her simply, "Leo and I have both learned the hard way that we can't look to restore the past."

"Coyote will surely try to help," Beth told her.

"And his help will be appreciated," Una nodded.

**Elsewhere in London**

"That is not a very optimistic report, General," Two said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry, my Lord, but it is the truth," the General answered, "this pursuit of Pendragon has slowed our advances in all sectors, particularly as troops are being moved back to this part of the British Isles."

"But Pendragon must be stopped," Two reminded him, "even if we conquer the country and he lives, his actions will violate the Mage's predictions."

"I'm not arguing that, sir," the General replied, "I am just reporting that with the resources given to us by the Council, we can not accomplish both as quickly or as easily as you would wish. It might even be wise to abandon the fight in Northern Ireland altogether until Pendragon can be dealt with."

Two grumbled again, mostly at not being as well funded by the Council for the fight with Pendragon and all that might support him in Britain. Although, the Council was more concerned with Khan in China at the moment then they really were with Pendragon and Merlin. So long as Merlin was powerless, they didn't care. But that wouldn't last long. Merlin had the ingredients and the instructions to undo the spell that had robbed him of his powers. He would certainly seek to follow them.

"We've got to do something to increase our fortunes in this war," Two spoke firmly, "we've already come into the open here in Britain… the 'conquest' can not be stopped. But Pendragon and Merlin must be stopped as well."

Two began to nervously pace where he was like a caged animal.

"We must get support from somewhere," Two grumbled.

"Perhaps from the people," the general offered his own advice.

"We do not have overflowing support from the people," Two answered, "the whole point of the Illuminati's rule is that we remain BEHIND scenes. Not in the open where we can be seen."

"Understandable, sir," the general answered, "but I'd tend to think that Pendragon and Merlin rely on the same thing, sir. Thus allowing them to hide in plain sight."

"Reveal them?" Two questioned.

"Not only reveal them but blame them as the reason for our invasion," the general said slowly, "the people wanting us to leave will likely turn on him… but even if they rally to him, they'll create a distraction for him that we can capitalize on with smaller forces."

"It would force us to pull our forces out," Two commented.

"Yes, but that would allow us to return to more secretive methods, which would benefit us more then this war," the general finished his point.

Two nodded at this.

"That may work," Two then spoke, "It'll take a little bit to get everything ready but it can be handled. We are still to build up our strength around Stonehenge in case they strike for it while we're setting the other measures up."

"Of course, sir," the General answered.

"And hopefully this finally works," Two gave a heavy sigh.

**The Mansion**

With their inspection over, Coyote and Reginald returned with Leo to the dining room where Macbeth and Griff had been updating Arthur on what had been going on in Britain while they were gone.

"So what do you think about our security?" Macbeth asked to Reginald, wondering what a professional soldier would think.

"Pretty good for setting up a prison within a private home," Reginald commented, "but then, most of its strength is through magic, so I'm not really an expert."

Macbeth and Arthur nodded. Both of them knew that it was Merlin that had really make their 'prison' work.

"The problem you have is that they are here," Reginald answered, "they will eventually make this manor a target for the Illuminati."

"That is likely to happen eventually," Macbeth grumbled, "since WE are here."

"Yes, but with them here, you're tied down to the manor if it means keeping your prisoners," Reginald pointed out.

"We can't just let them go," Arthur pointed out.

"That is where I come in, your majesty," Coyote spoke, "I believe that is where I might be of some service… even without having to do much in the way of magic."

"And how is that?" Macbeth questioned, "I could see you transforming them into something harmless or making them agree with us, but not much more then that."

"No, nothing like that," Coyote shook his head, "More like asking Queen Titania if we could borrow Avalon's dungeon."

"She would involve her Court in a 'civil' war in our country?" Merlin asked curiously.

"No, she'll likely allow me to help because of my connections with Beth, but her court would not get involved," Coyote explained, "but they might allow us to use the dungeons on Avalon's castle to hold your prisoners."

"Suppose the Illuminati have the spells to get to Avalon?" Arthur asked in a concerned voice.

"I doubt it," Coyote commented, "if they did, the Mage would have taken advantage of it long ago."

Merlin nodded. Reginald was unsure of who the Mage was, but Coyote's point seemed to buy them additional support.

"It would certainly solve one of our problems," Macbeth commented, "the other being what to do now. Even with Reginald and Coyote's help, we don't have enough strength to turn the tide of the war on the battlefield."

"We need to cure Merlin before we do anything of that nature," Arthur spoke, "they're all so focused on myself, anyway… maybe it would prove to be a distraction."

"Not enough to fully alter the tide," Macbeth spoke, "I'm certain that they've taken precautionary steps to insure it."

"Certainly we can slow it down, though, right?" Reginald asked.

"Yes, but unless we can deliver a decisive blow somewhere, it will only prolong the agony of the defeat," Macbeth commented, "we need something that can turn defeat into victory."

"Certainly curing Merlin would be a good start?" Arthur spoke.

"It might, provided the Illuminati are more focused on you then on the war they've started to 'reconquer' Britain," Macbeth nodded, "which wouldn't surprise me given some of the illogical moves they've made."

"The real question will be how to get to Stonehenge," Merlin commented, "we had all we could do to get into London, and it isn't the ultimate goal for that mission."

"And if Stonehenge is the final goal, you can beat they'll try to defend that area even fiercer then they defended London," Reginald commented.

"And it's an awful long way to go on foot or by wind," Griff commented, "and the vehicles we own would likely be identified by the Illuminati."

"I take it this would been another 'stealing' mission?" Arthur sighed heavily, still not liking the idea.

"Not unless you have a fully stocked factory underneath this mansion," Reginald answered, "but for the moment, some basic scouting will be more important. Even if they're not being smart about things, it is best to know what we are looking for and where it is."

"We can do that, easily," Griff volunteered, "if you have a description of what to look for."

"A wheeled vehicle," Reginald answered, "not necessarily one aimed for combat and scouting, but one like that would do if there is no other option. Preferably what we will need is a transport vehicle. It will allow you to get more to Stonehenge then you would otherwise."

"Why a vehicle like that?" Arthur wondered.

"More likely that there would be a vehicle like that alone on the road," Reginald answered, "if we were to steal a combat vehicle, we'd tip off our location by its very strengths. Tanks are commonly grouped together for added hitting power along with supporting foot or mechanized infantry."

"Trying to hide in plain sight," Macbeth chuckled.

"In a way," Reginald nodded.

"The clan can carry out the scouting mission," Griff volunteered.

Macbeth and Arthur exchanged glances, before Arthur responded.

"Very well, Griff," Arthur sighed, "You may carry out this scouting mission… but there is to be no fighting. Find what would be useful, see what the Illuminati's defenses are, and come back. I'll leave how many members of your clan that come along on this mission to you."

"Right-o, your Majesty," Griff spoke and left the room.

In the clan's main living room, a different sort of meeting was going on. Most of the rest of the London Clan, along with Rachel and Beth were following the news on the present 'war' in Britain. Though at the moment, Rachel was on a nearby phone desperately trying to make contact with her family.

"Still no answer," Rachel grumbled in a depressed voice as she put the phone down.

"Hadn't the Illuminati cut off phone lines?" Beth wondered, "at least to this mansion, anyway?"

"I had thought so," Octavia commented, "but then outside of the London Clan we do not have many contacts to call, so if the phone lines to the mansion were cut we wouldn't really notice…"

"And we weren't here," Rachel grumbled and turned to her cellphone.

"If she didn't answer on the normal line she probably won't answer a cellphone either," Beth commented slowly.

"Maybe they have blocked the land line and the cellphone is the more practical option," Rachel answered in a half hopeful voice, "she is my sister after all… I have to make sure she's alright."

"I know," Beth sighed, "You're worried about her… I'm sure Elisa and the rest of my family is worried about me in New York."

"You don't want to call them?" Rachel asked.

"I tried," Beth answered, "I couldn't even get a dial tone. I figured the Illuminati made it so that way I couldn't contact them."

It was at that time that Griff came into the room.

"What's up?" Lancelot asked quickly as he and Gawain jumped up.

"I'm going to need Julia for a scouting mission about finding some equipment we'll need to get Merlin to Stonehenge," Griff spoke.

"Just me?" Julia asked curiously.

"Yes," Griff answered, "the rest are to guard the mansion should the Illuminati decide to do anything direct against us. We aren't to attack them. Just find out what they have and what they're doing with it."

"Very well," Julia nodded.

"Good luck," Beth offered the two gargoyles.

"Thanks," Griff only gave a slight chuckle.

**Avalon, A Little While Later**

Coyote emerged with Reginald and the London clan's prisoners to the surprise of many in the Court. They were not expecting visitors obviously, especially considering one was a human that they were unfamiliar with, and two were prisoners.

"I take it there is an explanation for this Kachina?" said the Weird Sisters spoke as they came forward, even faster then Titania or any of the others could respond.

"There is," Coyote answered, "If you could tone down the roast me alive defense for a moment…"

"We are waiting, Coyote," Titania said from her throne, "you have not been known to take human prisoners."

"They aren't mine, your Majesty," Coyote answered respectfully, "they are Arthur and Macbeth's prisoners. I am mostly asking for your help in the problems they face."

"You know we can not intervene in human affairs and wars," Titania spoke.

"Not to intervene in the war, your Majesty," Coyote responded, "to house those that Arthur and Macbeth have taken prisoner to free their country. They do not have the facilities to safely house them."

"I see," Titania answered.

"And who is the armed human you bring with you?" the Sisters asked.

"This is Reginald, a soldier with the British Army fighting against the Illuminati," Coyote answered, "he's promised to take no hostile action against your Court, my Queen."

"I apologize if this all sudden or surprising," Reginald spoke nervously, "I mean you know harm."

"I can sense that, young soldier," Titania spoke, "and if Arthur trusts you to stand by his side, I suppose that would make you trustworthy."

"Thank you," Reginald relaxed a little.

"There is still the question of why you have broken Oberon's Law, Coyote," the Sisters spoke pointedly.

"I have not broken the Law," Coyote answered, "Arthur and Merlin's quest to find what they needed to cure Merlin took them to Arizona where the Illuminati went after both them and Beth. By my obligation to defend Clan Maza, I had to act."

"I trust you are not forcing her to remain in a dangerous position?" Titania asked.

"Of course not, my Queen," Coyote answered, "although returning with her to America might be difficult if the Illuminati have permanently made her a target for helping Arthur."

"Of course," Titania admitted and then glanced to the two Illuminati prisoners, one a werewolf, the other, one of the Illuminati's council members, the third prisoner was Lucius, "I suppose we can hold them for the duration of the present war in Britain. Is there anything that should be known about them?"

"Lucius will obviously need a cell he can not blast his way out of," Coyote spoke, gesturing to the mutate, "the council member will be fine in a normal cell, and the third is actually a werewolf hat serves the Illuminati."

"The one who bit the Winters woman," Luna spoke.

"I would guess so," Coyote answered.

"Sisters, Coyote, you may take the prisoners to the dungeons and insure that their cells are sufficiently strong enough to insure that they can not escape," Titania instructed, "the soldier will remain here."

Coyote and the Weird Sisters bowed and then left with the prisoners while Reginald stood nervously close to where he and Coyote had emerged onto the island.

**London**

It took them awhile to find a base that the Illuminati was using to store military equipment. There were some facilities like that around warehouses near the docks, but the vehicles there were constantly being moved. Griff guessed that it wouldn't be likely they could steal a vehicle from there. They were, however, successful in finding a facility that was not as well guarded on the northern end of London. It was an improvised base that had at least three tanks standing guard, but also had a host of smaller vehicles including a six wheeled vehicle with a long box like hull. It was officially a Thyssen Henschel Transportpanzer 1 (Fuchs) APC, a vehicle manufactured in Germany and in military service with several western nations including the US and the UK. Griff, however, didn't know that. He only knew that it fit the sort of description that Reginald had given him earlier.

"That ought to do well enough, if Reginald can drive it," Griff commented.

"Yes," Julia nodded as they stayed in the shadows of a large nearby tree, "the real question will be how to get past their defenses."

Griff then gave a heavy sigh. The base had roadblocks set up in the form of large concrete barricades. The only thing that could go straight through them would likely be a tank. The vehicle that Griff had spotted could maneuver through them, but that would take time, exposing it to fire from both inside the base and outside it.

There were also several tents and portable buildings that were constructed to serve various purposes, including a headquarters and hospital. In the corner closest to London and the farthest away from where Griff and Julia were was what looked like a munitions dump. The three tanks that were there moved around the base, as if ready to counter any move against the base.

"This is probably a garrison base," Griff commented, "set up to block any advance on London from the north or to counterattack any force in the area that has been forced to stop."

"Three tanks isn't much of an armored force," Julia commented.

"They probably have other bases in other sections of London," Griff answered, "this just happened to be the one we came across first."

"We'll still need Coyote's help to get into the place," Julia commented.

As she finished, a spot light from inside the base came on and illuminated the two gargoyles.

"Pendragon's followers!" a voice yelled faintly from inside the base.

Julia and Griff were quick to leave, although both where unsure as to how they had been spotted.

"They must have heard us," Julia commented as they glided away, gunfire echoing behind them, nearly all the shots that were fired went into the tree they had been in.

"I'd wonder how they could have," Griff grumbled, "we weren't talking that loud."

They went a little further before a shot echoed through the air and went passed them at a downward angle.

"What the…" Julia gasped and then looked up to see what looked like an enlarged hang-glider coming down toward them.

Two machine guns were mounted beneath the wings and it also looked like two small propellers had also been mounted n the back wings of the glider to allow it to fly for short distances before its weight would exhaust the engines.

"Must be some special unit…" Griff grumbled, "Veer right. I'll head left. If he chases me, circle back and disable his wings."

"And if he chases me, you'll do the same," Julia nodded, dissecting the plan.

The two divided presenting two different targets for their pursuer. After a few moments, Griff looked over his shoulder to see that the hang-glider pilot was chasing him. He immediate began weaving in tight turns and circles, remembering his days in the Battle of Britain. The hang-glider had no missiles and had to rely on getting a clear shot at him. If he went in a straight line, he would have to rely on going faster then his pursuer, which wasn't likely in the short term.

Julia, meanwhile, observed the hang-glider's pursuit of Griff. While Griff constantly turned to make himself a harder target, the hang-glider tried to stay as straight as possible, largely to try and gain a clear shot at Griff. That gave Julia the perfect opportunity to strike at the hang-glider pilot. She quickly gained altitude so that she could gain the speed she would need to catch up with the hang-glider.

It took Julia a few moments to gain the height needed, but to her relief the hang-glider pilot continued to follow Griff in a nearly straight and predictable pattern. As Griff made a turn around the increasingly taller buildings, Julia finally made her move. She folded her wings in and dove down toward the hang-glider. The pilot didn't seem to notice her until it was too late.

He tried to turn the craft, but with his engines recharging, he began to rapidly lose altitude and exposed the front edge of the wing to Julia, along with one of the guns. That was when Julia struck. In one swipe, her talons sliced through the leading edge of the wing, and she grabbed the barrel of the gun and ripped it off of the hang-glider taking a good bit of the wing with it. The hang-glider and its pilot then disappeared into the shadows, though Julia could hear the hard crashing noise of the hang-glider hitting the side of a building.

"And that is the end of him," Julia commented offhandedly as Griff circled back to glide beside her.

Griff did want to say that he hoped the pilot survived, but a good part of him knew that what the Illuminati had started was a war. And wars had a nasty habit of killing people, friend and foe alike. He still had a hard time though seeing a fellow citizen of the UK as an enemy though.

**Mansion**

It was later that night when Arthur and Merlin came out into the room where much of the rest of clan was watching the news coverage on the Illuminati invasion. The station covering it was being broadcast by the Illuminati, so it wasn't likely that the report wouldn't be bias free, but it would still be news.

"What are they saying?" Arthur asked.

"Saying that the fighting in the north is slowing down, but that nothing with stop them from possessing all of the island eventually," Beth commented, "but there is no detailed coverage on anything."

"Non news programming is nothing but reruns," Guinevere added.

"Much of it seems new to me," Rachel quipped.

Arthur ignored that for the moment. At that moment however, the screen turned back to the main reporter and away from the field reporter.

"We are sorry to interrupt the update on the capture of the British isles by the Illuminati, but it appears that there is a special announcement that has just come in," that reporter spoke.

The screen then switched to show Two standing in front of a large computer projector screen.

"Citizens of the United Kingdom, it will not be long before your nation is firmly under the control of the Illuminati Council," Two spoke in a supremely confident voice, "but there is the hope that you could save your Kingdom. A manner in which you would not need to sacrifice so much of your own youth in a doomed fight."

"What is he up to…" Merlin spoke as he looked toward the television.

"Our invasion was not triggered by any hatred of Britain but by a preemptive desire to save the world from the threat of three various men whom we know will do things that will destabilize the world in the future," Two continued.

The screen then showed to a black and white security camera footage showing Arthur and Macbeth battling for Excalibur in New York.

"These two are Arthur Pendragon, King of the Britons in the fifth Century," Two narrated, "and Macbeth mac Findlaích, King of Scotland in 1040 CE. These actions were captured of the two men fighting for what is believed to be the sword Excalibur in New York. We know they are active in London at present under alias that are fairly similar to their REAL names or to the play by Shakespeare… and as the footage portrayed, they are dangerous."

The screen then turned to security camera footage of Merlin's fight with Morgan le Fey when his great rival had attempted to kill him and the Queen. It specifically showed Merlin's use of magic.

"And this man is the worst of them all," Two continued, "he has used MANY aliases, but is in reality, the same man. Merlin Ambrosius. A wizard. A user of dark magic and one who has actively worked against the Illuminati and his own people's interests! After all… if he was so good in legend, why did Pendragon have to go into enchanted sleep on an island that supposedly is nothing but myth?"

"He's trying to turn the people against you guys," Beth commented, "Just like the Canmores turned New York against the Clan!"

"Revealing who I am to the world," Arthur said slowly.

"If anyone can bring them in, dead or alive," Two finished, "we would be very pleased and would even consider ending our invasion and letting Britain rule on its own. It is your choice."

"This bad," Merlin said slowly.

**To Be Continued…**


	32. Once And Future King: Reaction

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one day after "Reunited".

Once And Future King: Reaction

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Scapa Flow Naval Base, Orkney Islands**

The British naval base was a flurry of activity. It had seen a host of acts that were part of critical moments of the twentieth century. The navy of Wilhelm II lay scuttled at the bottom of the anchorage, which was Germany's last act in World War I, removing that prize of war from English Admirals. It would see the most audacious U-boat attack of World War Two, when a U-boat made it into the harbor and sank the Royal Oak. And now, it served as the headquarters for the UK army that wasn't loyal to the Illuminati, and to them, what they were witnessing was an even bigger disaster for their country.

"Arthur Pendragon is real?" a general gasped one of the television stations cut out into the static that nearly every station had fallen into as a result of the Illuminati invasion.

"Well, gargoyles were considered myth," an admiral commented, "and the Yanks have had all sorts of problems with them."

"I doubt that man is Pendragon," a different officer answered, "Pendragon was a hero who defended what was good and just from that which was cruel and wicked. That man is a pretender. Some hack who found a wizard and an old guy to play the role of the historical characters."

"So what should we do?" the admiral asked.

"We'd best meet with those members of Parliament that are on our side and made it here and with the acting PM," the general sighed, "maybe we can get them to open negotiations with the Illuminati… as we haven't been fairing well in the war as it is against them."

"To do what?" came a firm but frustrated voice from the doorway.

All of the officers looked up to see Elizabeth II standing there, looking fairly uncomfortable with being moved across the country and having to reside in military barracks in a naval base, but there had been too many risks. They were concerned that the royal residences in Scotland would be targeted by bombers and missiles as a sort of 'decapitation' tactic, and with the front lines at Scotland's borders, the Illuminati wouldn't need missiles to hit the palaces there. Field artillery could probably hit them. Scapa Flow was the safer location.

"Your majesty," they all said respectfully.

"Your majesty, you should not be here," the general spoke, who was truly the most senior officer present.

Not every officer did side with the Illuminati, and this general happened to be one of them. The other present officers were hastily promoted to their ranks when Illuminati defections reduced their ranks.

"And where should I be?" Elisabeth II questioned back, "cowering like some old woman? I served this country well in the war against the Nazis. Don't think me incapable of wondering what is going on."

"I apologize, your majesty," the general shrunk back, "I merely did not want you to be stressed."

"Seeing a foreign invader occupy my country, stresses me," Elisabeth II replied, "how much will have to be done to rebuild all that they've surely destroyed?"

"We all apologize," the third officer spoke, "we were just concerned on our options in dealing with the Illuminati's announcement…"

"Yes, two of the men you knighted," the general answered.

"And a shame you've told the acting Prime Minister and I that we are in no position to provide them with any help," Elisabeth II said with a sigh.

"Help him?!" the admiral gasped, "he's the one who started all of this to play out some sick fantasy. Arthur Pendragon died in the fifth or sixth century!"

"And I suppose you believe that gargoyles are nothing more then rain spouts?" Elisabeth II questioned.

"Even if Avalon is real, no one's gone to awaken him," the admiral argued, "he's an imposter."

"And it was right for the Illuminati to punish our entire country because he 'thinks' he's Arthur Pendragon?" Elisabeth II questioned.

"It might get them to agree to leave if we let them kill him or take him prisoner," the general spoke, "we haven't been fairing well. NATO is calling this an internal matter and won't intervene. The UN is deadlocked by Russia and China refusing to vote for any action to aide us. We are alone, your majesty."

"We stood alone against a far more vile foe," Elisabeth II responded, "we didn't back down then, we will not back down now. England shall be free. And if a pair of kings from our countries' past are the turning point, then I would give them the chance."

"But we could end the war now, and restore our borders and…"

"Hitler offered my father and Mr. Churchill the exact same deal," Elisabeth II reminded them, "are you really going to trust some mysterious organization who invaded because they do not like an individual… or two men who risked their lives to save mine, which was why I knighted them in the first place."

"There isn't much we can do, and Parliament may not see it the way you see it," the general warned.

"Then you had best figure out a way to persuade them," Elisabeth II answered.

"Yes, your majesty," the general saluted and then bowed.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

The outlook was even grimmer at the mansion. Reginald and Coyote were still on Avalon taking their prisoners to be held there, but with Arthur and Macbeth essentially revealed to the world, they wouldn't have much that they could do. If the people's reaction to the Illuminati's revelation was hostile, even the gargoyles and Rachel wouldn't be able to hold them off.

"They must be getting desperate," Merlin sighed heavily in his chair.

"Or they're too preoccupied with the war with the government," Macbeth answered, "and this is merely a distraction."

Arthur gave a heavy sigh and continued to pace the kitchen in the mansion. The Illuminati had revealed him to the people of the United Kingdom, and in a way that made him responsible for their actions. And the people might come after him because of it, not knowing that he had no desire to unseat the House of Windsor or anything of that nature. Arthur also knew he could in no way protect the innocents that had ended up with him. Reginald, Beth Maza, and for the moment Merlin. If they were attacked, he couldn't guarantee their safety, which was one of the things that hit him the hardest.

The gargoyles could glide away to some safe place if need be. Macbeth was immortal so long as the Illuminati didn't use Demona. And he was privately sure that he could find a way to escape if setting things right depended on him. But while Reginald was a soldier, this wasn't really his fight. Or at least it shouldn't have to be. Beth Maza was an innocent MD who had been caught in the Illuminati's hunt for him. She agreed with Arthur, but it was fairly clear that she hoped to return home. And while this was involving Merlin, his lack of powers at the moment made him vulnerable…

And with Merlin, Arthur wondered if he had made a mistake in searching for him. Merlin had helped him in the Middle Ages, but he had his own life after Arthur went to sleep on Avalon. Then, as soon as he awoke again, he began to look for Merlin again. Had he been living in the past by doing so?

"What we do, Arthur?" Lancelot asked from a different corner of the room.

Arthur sighed heavily as he wasn't entirely sure on what to do.

"We should try to stick to the plans we've already laid," Macbeth answered, "when the soldier and Coyote return, we'll take the armored vehicle that Griff was sent to scout and get Merlin to Stonehenge. There we can cure him and maybe do something about throwing the Illuminati out."

There was a short silence for a moment.

"Restoring Merlin's power may even give the army additional chances to turn the tide in the sense of the big picture," Macbeth finished.

"But your home… suppose it is attacked?" Arthur wondered, "if the common people are angered because of all this, I doubt they'll be in much of a mood to 'go easy' on you and I."

"It wouldn't be the first house I've lost," Macbeth sighed, "trying to defend the building wouldn't be the wisest option. Especially since you know, Arthur, if they do turn against the two of us, we can not fight the majority of our own people."

"And if they come before Reginald and Coyote return?" Merlin wondered.

"We evacuate through the one route they can't cover," Macbeth answered, "Coyote and Reginald will surely be able to catch up with us."

Arthur sighed heavily. He didn't like this one bit.

"We may have no choice, Arthur," Leo spoke up, "this invasion goes against all logic. Even if the Illuminati wins, they aren't going to gain much from the attack. This move I think is to distract you from helping Merlin."

Arthur only sighed, "we'll wait for Coyote, Reginald, Griff, and Julia to return. We need to get Beth to the lines the UK military holds. They might be able to help her get home if we can't."

"Coyote can do that, if I go anywhere," Beth spoke up from the doorway where she'd been listing, "by Oberon's law, he can only be involved in this war so long as I am involved. And I'm guessing that until you can cure Merlin, you'll be needing someone who can do magic."

"You do not have to stay with us," Arthur answered.

"They'll probably try to hunt me down anyway," Beth answered, "I may not be the 'warrior' that my sister is, but I can still help."

"Then I thank you," Arthur sighed, "hopefully we can get through this safely."

"Hopefully," Beth nodded.

**Avalon**

Reginald stood quietly beside Titania on Avalon's beach while Coyote took the Illuminati prisoners to the dungeons on Avalon.

"I sense you have questions," Titania spoke, "is the modern soldier truly curious about beings he'd likely only read about in books of fantasy?"

"Mostly just curious about a few things, madam," Reginald said respectfully, "though I do not know if it is my place to ask you these things…"

"I do not mind answering questions," Titania answered, "and I have some experience in dealing with mortals. I can understand your curiosity."

"Well, Coyote has explained some of your kind's laws, mainly what he called Oberon's Law," Reginald began.

"Yes, which prohibits any fey from intervening in mortal affairs without invitation or in response to attack," Titania nodded, "it is one of my Court's corps rules."

"But your people have the power to do things would be considered scientifically impossible?" Reginald asked.

"Yes."

"You could do almost anything you wanted?" Reginald asked again.

"Yes."

"Then why live by a law that restrains your own actions?" Reginald wondered again, "I've known of no human society that would have ever hesitated to use such powers if they had them. As soon as some new technology or tactic has come along, man has used it, for good or for bad."

"You would rather I wage war on humanity?" Titania questioned.

"Certainly not," Reginald answered, "I'm just perplexed as to how a race could accumulate such power and then not use it."

"Not all mortals are incapable of magic," Titania answered, "and just because my people can do magic, that does not make us invincible. Fey have been killed by human sorcerers and by normal humans who have uncovered our natural weaknesses. And in those cases, as you say, the mortals have not hesitated to use their weapon against the fey… and early on this was during a time when many of my people did think our powers granted us dominion over all the other races."

Reginald watched as Titania illustrated her point by using sand figures to demonstrate the actions she was explaining.

"My former husband, Oberon was a young one when this was all going on," Titania continued, "and his father did believe our powers gave us that right. Though fey actions rarely turned to what mortals would call war. They fey that believed these things merely referred to their actions as sport… entertainment… not that this was easy on the humans of the time. For a while, Oberon believed this… but on one occasional, he and his father were attacked by a mortal sorcerer and a band armed with weapons that our magic could not protect us from. They vowed that our using them as amusement was at its end, and killed Oberon's father before his eyes and drove Oberon into fleeing."

"So he learned your people weren't invincible," Reginald guessed.

"And upon taking the throne, decided that the possibility of such a defeat was too great and that avoiding war with humanity was a wiser choice," Titania nodded, "and he soon took it as a moral law."

The sand images then shifted to two that looked like Oberon facing against himself.

"But that wouldn't be the last war that the Third Race has fought," Titania continued, "Not all agreed with letting the mortals be. Madoc rose up with his followers and ignited a war between brothers among our race. A war that spread through both Avalon and the mortal world, terrifying the mortals and creating more instances where they fought against my people in places. But Madoc was defeated and exiled from Avalon forever and unable to touch its magic, weakening him. And Oberon's Law stood firm."

"And it's stood ever since?" Reginald asked.

Titania nodded. There were some details she didn't tell, mostly how her various trickster 'children' got around Oberon's Law, and even how the Weird Sisters had gotten around it.

"Man could stand to learn much from you," Reginald commented, "if you made contact with them. These New Olympians have come out of hiding on their Mediterranean island an have done well. Technically Greece has claimed them as a protectorate, but they've done well."

"Humanity has much fear," Titania answered, "New Olympus has been accepted as a political entity because they are segregated from humanity. But where nonhumans live side by side with humans, their lives are a fierce struggle. I will keep Avalon secret until humanity learns not to react in fear at the first sign of something different."

Reginald was unable to answer as Coyote made his way back. The Weird Sisters were with him.

"Thank you for your help," Reginald spoke.

"Do not thank us yet, mortal," Phoebe spoke.

"Your war grows worse, and the Illuminati have exposed your kingly allies," Selene added.

"And tell Rachel that her fight will only grow tougher," Luna finished, "if she is serve by Arthur's side."

Coyote then lead Reginald to the water, and disappearing into the water's surface tension.

"What was that about?" Reginald asked.

"Don't know for sure," Coyote answered, "those three are pretty powerful together and seem to always be connected with prophecies and the like. It will probably be best to relay their message. It seems like something the others already know."

**London**

Griff and Julia were grateful to have gotten away from the Illuminati members that had been pursuing them and began to slowly glide toward the mansion. They did not as yet know that the Illuminati had revealed Macbeth and Arthur to the world, but they did notice a few movements that were rather odd.

"Don't it seem a little odd to see that number of people moving around at night?" Griff commented, noticing a rather loose looking crowd moving along the street they were gliding over.

"Odd that they are carrying torches," Julia commented, "Europe is not some backwater prone to electrical failure or lacking it entirely."

Several people were in fact carrying torches, though they looked more like they had vandalized someone's dinner table. The fact that they were marching though, was still a curiosity to Griff. Even going back to the forties and the war against Hitler, what Griff experienced before going through time, people didn't gather into large crowds at night. They might during the day, but not at night.

"Maybe they're rebelling against the Illuminati," Julia commented, "so much of their initial attack went through places like London so quickly, I doubt they could have liquidated all possible sources of resistance."

"Maybe," Griff commented, "best to check it out."

The group of people seemed rather intent on where they were going, and none of them bothered to notice Griff and Julia's descent to just a few feet above their heads. Eventually Griff decided to risk conversation to see what this group of people.

"Say, excuse me, chaps, but where are all of you going?" Griff asked as politely as curiosity would allow.

"To end the war," one said without looking. A different person did look in response to Griff's question.

"Holy… it's a gargoyle!" the man said in an astonished voice.

"It's the one from the memorial!" another spoke.

"Yes," Griff nodded, "I'm real. Now where did you say you were going?"

"To end the war!" the first man answered, "they only attacked us because some loony is running around pretending to be Arthur Pendragon, and another is pretending to be Macbeth. We're going to finish them off!"

That puzzled Griff a bit, but they weren't attacking him, so he decided to go with it. Perhaps he could get them to explain a little more.

"King Arthur and Macbeth?" Griff asked.

"Yeah," a fourth man said, "the Illuminati general went on the teley, promised they'd leave if we killed them. Said that the loony pretending to be Arthur was the cause of their invasion."

That sounded like a propaganda ploy if ever Griff had heard one.

"And suppose they are who they say they are?" Griff countered, "you'd kill two of the greatest Kings in this island's history."

"They aren't," the first answered, "the Illuminati wouldn't challenge the REAL King Arthur."

"And you think that by killing them the Illuminati will back off?" Griff questioned.

"YES!"

"You do realize that is the same deal Hitler offered Churchill in June 1940?" Griff questioned, "let me rule Europe from the Pyrenees to the Volga, slaughter all of Europe's Jews, and expand the German war machine to the point where it could cross the channel or the Atlantic, and in exchange, Britain may keep her King, her Empire, and her dignity… though all of her Jews must go to German camps, and the King will be the older brother Edward VIII, who loves the Nazis and not George VI… in other words, let me do what I want, and do as I want, and you won't be harmed. Don't grow a spine and fight for your rights. Accept my generosity."

"But we have been fighting," the second man complained.

"And losing," the third added.

"All the more reason to rally behind those who might be able to save us," Griff answered, "not to hand him over to the invader… whom one should NEVER trust to keep his word."

"But…"

"At least talk with him," Griff pleaded, "Don't just mindlessly attack because the Illuminati offered a compromise… because, I tell you this, the Illuminati seems to be in a position to win the war outright… and does not NEED the compromise."

There was an awkward silence. The mob kept moving, but it seemed to lose the purpose it had before. Griff took the opportunity glide a little higher up to Julia.

"I think I'm going to lose my voice after all the shouting," Griff grumbled.

**Macbeth's Mansion**

Coyote and Reginald returned to find the people in the mansion in a rather nervous state. All were grouped in the kitchen/dinning room area and were going over some facts that the southwestern fey and the British soldier had not been there to witness.

"Have we missed something?" Coyote asked as he approached.

"Oh, you haven't missed much," Merlin turned his head and answered with some humor, "just the Illuminati taking a different tactic against us, that's all."

The two new arrivals looked at each other with some puzzlement, drawing frustrated sighs from those present that had been dealing with the issue.

"The Illuminati have made a broadcast revealing Macbeth and I to the people," Arthur explained with a sigh, "much like the way the hunters revealed Goliath's clan in New York…"

"In a way that complicates things," Coyote sighed, "You know that I can only stay here so long as Beth stays here… and even if she does… I'm not strong enough to change everyone's mind."

"I will be staying," Beth told him, "at least until they can cure Merlin. They may need someone with medical training."

Coyote glanced to her, sighed and nodded, "very well."

"I'm not looking to controlling anyone's mind," Arthur spoke in response to Coyote's comment, "our prime goal is to restore Merlin's powers. If we can avoid the worst of this until after the Illuminati are beaten, fine, if not… we'll have to take some strategic retreats."

"Just explaining my weaknesses," Coyote answered as Rachel suddenly turned her head to the front door.

"What is it?" Arthur asked her.

"There is a great noise coming this way," Rachel said slowly.

Arthur's face grew very nervous. They might attempt to storm the mansion, and Griff wasn't back yet. But he couldn't allow the others to be caught and killed by a mob.

"To the roof," Arthur spoke, "if necessary we will abandon the mansion and regroup at the shop."

"But the shop was closed with the Illuminati attack," Una spoke.

"Maybe, but it would be the only other place Griff might go if he finds that we are not here," Arthur answered, "I don't want to fight a battle with my own people. Not those that are against the Illuminati."

"We'll be ready to help," Lancelot said valiantly.

Arthur nodded as the group began to move toward the stairs to get to the roof. Coyote and Beth followed. Reginald hung back though, and caught Rachel by an arm as she moved past him. She jumped slightly at the surprise.

"I'm sorry to startle you, but one of the fey on Avalon had a message she wanted me to give you," Reginald spoke.

"One of them had a message for me?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Reginald, "she says that your fight is to grow tougher if you stay by Arthur's side…"

"Luna," Rachel sighed.

"Is something wrong?" Reginald asked.

"No," Rachel shook her head, "Luna is the mother of the fey that invented the lycanthropic 'curse', largely to create a creature that could protect humanity in place of the gargoyles killed by the First Unseelie War."

"This Madoc?" Reginald asked.

"He was their leader," Rachel nodded, "anyway, Luna's son created werewolves to protect people the same way gargoyles protected them… it's why I can transform at will and that I'm not some mindless animal in wolf form… he needed Luna's own connection to the moon to give the 'curse' its sense of timing…"

"Why you have to transform on the night of the full moon," Reginald surmised.

"Yes," Rachel nodded.

"So how could she know about your future? Is it because you're a werewolf?" Reginald wondered.

"She and her sisters Selene and Phoebe seem to have some grand connection to the timeline," Rachel answered, "they can see into the future… and when I first met her, I did so to get some answers on my connection to my lycanthropy and she said that I would face tough fights and tough choices the longer I stayed with Arthur. And if she told you this now… I guess it means that the time of struggle is coming soon."

"Did she ever tell you exactly what these choices are?" Reginald asked.

"Not exactly," Rachel answered, "it'd be like telling someone the end of a book when they've only just started…"

"But couldn't you change your decision, if what she sees is the wrong one?" Reginald wondered.

"I could, but I can't be certain that it would lead to similar consequences," Rachel shrugged, "and for the Third Race, many concepts of or morality is not an issue for them. If this decision that I will be faced with is 'unavoidable' they will largely feel indifferent to it, regardless of which decision we make… and since Oberon's Law forbids uninvited fey help, they can't interfere with us, regardless of whether or not something is right or wrong."

"They seem be quite the mystery," Reginald commented.

"I'm sure you've realized that working with two medieval kings, a werewolf, a wizard, and a clan of gargoyles is not going to be the path to an easy and uncomplicated life?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, I know," Reginald sighed as they went out the door onto the roof.

They made their way onto the roof balcony to find Griff and Julia coming in for a landing.

"We were worried you wouldn't make it back," Arthur spoke as he approached Griff.

"I wouldn't be too relieved for the moment," Griff commented, "because I ended up having to bring some people who want to talk with you."

"The people who saw the broadcast?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Griff nodded, "we managed to talk them out of outright attacking, but I do believe they still have grievances."

Arthur slowly walked toward the edge of the roof, when the shingles shifted into a speaker's platform, complete with microphones. He turned back to Coyote to see the southwestern fey give a slight shrug. He returned his attention to the crowd gathering on the street and hoped he could be a good speechmaker.

"Citizens of London," he spoke into the microphone, managing not to jump when the microphones actually worked, "Good evening. You have all seen the Illuminati's broadcast. Claiming I am the cause of the invasion… that I am pretending to be Arthur Pendragon. Some of what they said was true. I am indeed Arthur Pendragon… I regret that I can not give you any definite proof beyond my word, as I have found that much of the history of me has been mixed with folklore and legend… I apologize if that does not suit the questions you have."

"What about the war?" one man asked.

"Why did you bring it down on us?" another demanded.

"I had no intention of bringing this war on Britain," Arthur sighed, "I apologize for my only proof is my word on this. I promise you that I trying to stop the Illuminati. To keep Britain free."

"What about the Queen?" a third yelled from the back, "are you here to challenge her?"

"I would defend Queen Elizabeth the Second with all of my being," Arthur answered, "I have no desire to take the political throne again. The throne is hers, and I will fight to defend it."

"How?" "HOW?" the cry echoed from the ground.

"The task is hard," Arthur answered, "the Illuminati have done many things clandestinely that have helped lead up to their present invasion, including robbing Merlin of his powers. The first thing that must be done is to restore Merlin's powers."

"The wizard? The worst of all?" someone cried out.

"Merlin has never used his magic for selfish purposes," Arthur defended his teacher, "even the legends of my reign mention that… what the Illuminati said about him is complete lie."

Arthur heard several disgruntled mutterings from the crowd.

"If you wish to help defeat the Illuminati, please vote quickly on who will represent you," Arthur spoke, "once that is done, we will let the representative and two witnesses to discuss with us the details of the coming operation."

"This is unwise," Macbeth warned quietly.

"We have no choice," Arthur answered, "if we don't include them, they may storm the mansion before we can leave… some of them may even have guns."

Macbeth only sighed in frustration. Arthur meanwhile turned to Lancelot and Gawain who seemed to be waiting eagerly for instruction.

"You two are to remain up here until they let you know they've picked a leader and two witnesses," Arthur told them, "You will then escort them to the kitchen."

"Yes, your majesty," Lancelot gave a half bow.

Arthur then lead the others back inside and began to head downstairs. They quietly returned to the kitchen while Rachel listened as best she could. It took about fifteen minutes of talking that Rachel could hear in murmurs before they all heard the door open and the sound of footsteps approaching them.

Lancelot lead in one middle aged businessman, one elderly man, and one young woman.

"Miss Catherine Silver has been elected representative," Lancelot announced, "she is accompanied by George Farthing and Richard Bucket."

"You say you wish to defeat the Illuminati," Catherine spoke, "You'd best explain how NOW."

"That would be rather difficult," Merlin spoke drawing Catherine's attention.

She turned to face him, and half expected some villainous looking and scheming person. She found a fair calm and unthreatening figure.

"How?" She demanded.

"Because the Illuminati are not like any invader any country has faced before," Merlin answered, "they are a secret society that has existed since the Middle Ages, and through covert agents, they eventually took control of every country on Earth…"

"But they only just attacked us! How… Why would they attack a country they already 'rule' you stupid man?" Catherine growled.

"There rule has never been an open 'here I am' sort of rule," Merlin explained, "they do not rule the way people think governments rule. Members run for local offices and are elected honestly by the people. They then carry out whatever instructions the Illuminati Council secretly gives them. As for why they attacked Britain, they believe that if Arthur fulfills his destiny as the 'Once and Future King' their planned future will fail, and since covert fights have failed, they've come out into the open."

"But you said you weren't going to challenge the Queen?" Catherine gasped.

"And I'm not," Arthur answered, "Macbeth and my time as 'Kings' have passed. And there is also the fact that one does not NEED to hold political office to be a hero or be of value to one's country. Griff here is a good example."

"The gargoyle?" Richard Bucket asked.

"I really did fight the Nazis during the Blitz," Griff answered, "I had no commission… no rank… just the determination to defend by country from a very evil man running another country."

"So how do you plan to defeat this organization?" Catherine asked, "reveal this truth to the world?"

"No," Arthur sighed, "we have no proof or way to hack into their systems. And while they might have a website or computer system to help them… searching for it would be impossible."

"We'd never be able to tell which site is legitimately run by the Illuminati and which is some random conspiracy theory," Macbeth nodded.

"So how do you plan to beat them?" Catherine repeated her question.

"Mostly to try and keep them distracted from the non-Illuminati troops in the north," Arthur sighed, "Mostly by restoring Merlin's powers."

"How do you plan to do that?" George Farthing asked.

"We must get to Stonehenge and perform some minor bit of magic to restore my powers," Merlin answered, "to get there, I believe, Reginald here has offered the idea of stealing a military vehicle the Illuminati are using."

"Which will hopefully allow us to move without drawing an army's worth of fire," Reginald commented.

"And the base has the sort of wheeled vehicle you're looking for," Griff told him.

"Good," Reginald nodded.

"And this is to distract them from the fighting in the north?" Richard Bucket asked.

"It might since this whole invasion of theirs is because they think I'm out to stop them," Arthur answered.

"How can we help?" Catherine then asked.

"Help?" Arthur asked, "I can't have you risk your lives… you and the others with you could be hurt."

"They've started a war, Mr. Pendragon," Catherine answered, "we could be killed anyway."

"They do have a point," Macbeth commented, "the Illuminati may already know their mob has already come here… which was the purpose of their little announcement. If they're quietly sent home, they may get suspicious and have them killed to keep them quiet."

Arthur sighed.

"The strongest defenses that they have at this base can be taken out by Coyote," Macbeth commented, "the rest of us can defeat the rest and capture the vehicle. With that done, these people could be armed."

"Even so, an armed mob won't stand against armed soldiers," Arthur warned.

"They don't have to stand and fight," Macbeth spoke, "causing a little chaos for the Illuminati will probably be more then enough… and not all of us needs to go to Stonehenge. Chloe and I can remain in London to provide Ms. Silver with all the aide and advice we can."

"You would do that?" Catherine asked.

"Aye."

"And you're really the king Macbeth?" Catherine asked again.

"Aye," Macbeth sighed, "and before we go any further, I am nothing like the Shakespearian character, and my reign had no resemblance to the play… and like Arthur, I have no desire to challenge the present monarchy."

"Why?" asked Catherine asked curiously.

"Let's just say ruling Scotland cost me everything," Macbeth answered, "but now we must be going."

"Julia," Arthur turned to the Roman female, "could you escort Catherine Silver's people to a position near the Illuminati base?"

"Of course," Julia nodded.

"Then let us move," Arthur spoke as he got up.

**Illuminati Combat Base, Half an Hour Later**

"Okay, are we in position?" Arthur asked as the staked out the Illuminati combat base.

"Pretty much," Reginald reported, "Julia and the 'mob' are a couple of blocks away to the south. They'll probably come out when we've engaged them."

They all glanced to the rather quiet base for the moment. It was Rachel who sighed and slid back a little in order to stand up.

"Then I suppose I should…" Rachel began as her eyes changed to a golden color, "…give them…" her teeth began to lengthen along with a downy coat of brown fur beginning to cover her, "…a reason…to… to…" her musculature grew larger as her fur grew thicker, and as her finger and toe nails grew into an impressive set of claws, "…to… come over…" her hair grew longer and wild as her ears moved to the top of her head. A tail burst out from the end of her spine, and there were audible cracks as her face began to push its muzzle out, "…here… noooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And Rachel howled, announcing the completion of her transformation to wolf form. It ended up having exactly the response they had intended. Many of the infantry came running from inside the base. Some fired, but Rachel was still far enough back the shots passed harmlessly over her head. Reginald returned fire taking down a couple of Illuminati soldiers, forcing them to spread out.

"It's you're turn, Coyote," Rachel said to Coyote who was near the back with Beth. Beth was clutching at the magical stone she had gotten in Cambodia.

"You may have to use it if you stay here," Coyote told her, "just focus and give the stone a firm command… it should help you from there…"

Coyote then seemed to vanish into a cloud of sand that seemingly came out of nowhere and few through the trees and shrubs their group was hiding around and toward the Illuminati troops

"Fey!" the Illuminati troops yelled, and many of them began changing cartridges.

Coyote kept the "sand storm" coming as the three tanks came out to support their infantry. He could sense the iron in the rounds in the cartridges the infantrymen were switching to, but while he was in the form of grains of sand, it was unlikely they could do serious harm, and he could hold himself together.

They fired off a few rounds, but the rounds passed almost harmlessly through the cloud of sand. Coyote did cringe a little, but he kept going and hit the infantrymen at full force. At the impact, they lost their balance and fell backward, wiping at their eyes to try and get the sand out of them. Coyote kept the sand storm circling and began to pull away parts of the road and ground and turning them into sand particles, reducing the effectiveness of the iron rounds as there was less of the storm that was actually Coyote.

Macbeth watched quietly as the infantrymen struggled against the blowing around them. Occasionally he heard a shot or two fired, but that seemed to be from within the base while Coyote kept the storm outside it. It was the tanks though that were his main concern. They had no weapon that could stop them, and the three armored behemoths came forward, unaffected by Coyote's sand storm.

"Come on trickster," Macbeth grumbled.

The tanks continued to come forward a short ways before they all suddenly dropped down into something. It was in that moment that Macbeth noticed it. By enlarging the sandstorm, he actually removed enough of the road and ground to create a tank trap that they fell into. He had removed their biggest problem and all that was left was to take the rest of the base itself.

"Okay now, MOVE FORWARD!" Arthur urged raising Excalibur as a rallying symbol, though also readying an electric blaster that Macbeth had loaned him, "Griff, lead the clan against any of their soldiers on the roofs or walls. Macbeth and Reginald with me… Rachel, no teeth or claws."

"Right," Rachel nodded her muzzle, "and I got your back."

Arthur returned a fairly soft smile, "thank you."

"I'll stay back with Merlin," Beth offered, "if anyone comes after him, I suppose I can use the 'Avalon stone' to make them go away… or something."

Arthur nodded and they all moved out. The gargoyles were the first ones to make real contact, as they used he tree trunks to catch updrafts to get into the air. Griff lead the way, and as they gained height, he noticed several men moving up onto the walls near where Coyote was and onto the roof of the main part of the base.

"Leo, can you and Una take Chloe and Gawain and go after those along the walls?" he asked.

Leo nodded.

"We'll put them to sleep," Una said confidently as she ready a few small bags of powder.

They then glided off with Chloe and Gawain following. Griff then looked to the rest with him. Octavia, Lancelot, and Guinevere.

"We meanwhile got the big bunch there on the roof!" Griff pointed.

"They aren't focused on us yet," Octavia commented as she beat her wings a little, as if preparing to dive, "that will be changed!" and then down she dove, "ROMA VICTOR!"

"Roma? Isn't this London?" Lancelot asked as the rest of them dove after the Roman gargoyle.

"It is," Griff shrugged, "but Julia and Octavia both came from Rome, and their clan dates back to the Ancient Romans."

"Oh…" Lancelot paused his speaking but continued the dive.

Their attack brought about the quick reaction they wanted. Octavia took out three soldiers with punches that sent them flying before they could even respond. One even ended up going over the edge of the roof. The rest were caught in confusion. Two turned to fire on Octavia as she passed through, and ended up shooting each other. Another turned and fired a few wild shots at the Roman female without actually aiming, making sure the shots went wild. Those that did turn to face the rest of Griff's team, took so long to do so, that the English gargoyle was able to get close.

Griff landed a punch that hit the man in the side and sent him spinning. Before the soldier could regain his balance, Griff landed and caught him by an arm. He was disarmed and unconscious before he could do anyone else. He then turned to see that the others finishing off the men they had to deal with as well.

Guinevere had tripped one with her tail and then managed to kick him in the face. The man ended up skidding along the surface of the roof until he hit the concrete wall around it's edge. Lancelot had clubbed one upside his shoulder's while Octavia had returned and tossed the last guarding Illuminati soldier from the roof of the building they were on.

"That went well," Lancelot gave a confident shrug, as a burst of gunfire went over their heads.

Griff looked down to see soldiers firing at them from the far wall and from the roofs of some of the other buildings.

"Anything can go wrong," Griff answered with a groan.

Leo's group, meanwhile dove down toward the outer wall where there were several men firing toward the location of where they believed Coyote to be. Leo and Chloe were the first to arrive, each of them grabbing an Illuminati soldier by the shirt and then throwing him toward the other buildings and pieces of equipment. Gawain caught a soldier coming up a flight of stairs to the wall. He managed to bend the barrel of his rifle, but the soldier did capitalize on the situation by landing a blow that knocked Gawain to the ground. Gawain's only saving grace was that he managed to land a kick in the soldier's gut which sent him tumbling down the stairs. He crashed into something and Gawain never saw the soldier try to attack again.

Una landed among several of the soldiers. They turned, as if to fire on her, but she merely flung the small packets of sand she was carrying.

"Dormite, hostes mei, ubi statis!" Una said with a soft smirk as the soldiers then dropped to the ground where they stood.

There was no room to rest however, as she looked up to see Griff and the others pinned down on the roof of the large sort of garage building that they had moved on first.

"We've got to give them some help!" Una said pointing to the other gargoyles.

"Do you have any more of the powder?" Leo asked.

"A couple," Una sighed.

"It'll have to do," Leo answered, "come on!"

The true battle, however was still on the ground as Arthur, Macbeth, Rachel, and Reginald rushed toward where Coyote had his sand storm swirling. As they got closer they could see that the tanks that had fallen into the tank traps Coyote had created were now being buried in sand. They all managed to hurdle the trap to see the storm end and Coyote appear next to the wall of the base.

"You okay?" Arthur asked as he approached.

"Yeah," Coyote said slowly, "I'll be fine… quite a few of them still in there though. They didn't charge all of their men out."

"We only need to get one of the wheeled vehicles," Reginald spoke, "if we can get to it, we get it and go…"

"What about the Londoners?" Arthur asked, "they're probably moving this way, and expecting to get their weapons."

"And the Illuminati could have more reinforcements on the way," Reginald pointed out, "If Coyote can knock them out quickly, that's one thing, but if not… we can't afford a massive pitched battle. Eventually they'll gather enough firepower to make our skill or advantages negated."

"Can you keep your sandstorm going?" Macbeth asked, knowing that Arthur would likely take the hard path.

"I believe so," Coyote slowly nodded, "but you'll need these to see."

A set of goggles then appeared in a flash in the ands of each of them. Rachel's were specially modified to accommodate her lupine form at the moment. They put them on as Coyote resumed the form of a sandstorm and rushed into the base itself.

"Reginald, we will try to secure the base, at least to give the Londoners some chance of arming themselves," Arthur told him, "while we engage the Illuminati's soldiers, you get one of the vehicles and get it out of here."

They then rushed in to find the base in chaos. From what Arthur could make out, the fighting on the garage roof and part of the walls was done, but the other Illuminati units were still fighting and still fighting hard against Griff an the others. There were other soldiers attempting to fire on Coyote, and were still finding it hard to hit individual grains of sand with bullets, even iron ones.

The closest one to Arthur was a man who was using the garage door as a sort of shelter to try and fire on the sandstorm outside the structure. Arthur rushed forward and cut through the barrel with Excalibur. As he went forward he fired the electric blaster in his other hand knocking the man back. He then looked around to see that there weren't all that many in the courtyard, and distracted with Griff and the gargoyles on the walls and rooftops and with Coyote's sandstorm, the others might have good luck as well.

Reginald made his way to the row of wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers. They resembled German equipment that Britain's NATO ally had sold to the UK and to the US, but that was unimportant to the British soldier so long as they worked. He rushed one man attempted to take shelter in the rear compartment of one of the APCs. The man noticed him at the last second, but was unable to do anything as Reginald opened up on him with his own rifle. Two rounds hit him. Once in the right shoulder and the other in the left side of his torso, just below his lung. The other two rounds ricocheted around the interior of the vehicle.

"Are the keys in it?!" Reginald demanded.

"Yeah, I was just sent to get it ready when the sandstorm came in the base," the soldier groaned, "be careful, they have ground troops hiding in the flying sand."

The soldier thought he was on the Illuminati's side.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Reginald commented as he raised the door and sealed the man inside for the moment.

He then made his way around to get to the driver's compartment. He was forced to shoot two more Illuminati soldiers that he startled as he made his way there. These two, however, he was sure were dead and made no effort to check on them. He was soon in the cab of the APC and was slowly backing it out of the base.

The blowing sand didn't make it easy for Macbeth to see all that clearly. The Illuminati soldiers were all largely trying to get under something, or get to the walls and rooftops where Coyote's storm had not reached. This gave them good cover, but unable to see at all through the blowing sand, Macbeth was able to get close enough to put his electric blasters to good use.

He had already sent two into unconsciousness with them as he neared the flight of stairs that lead to the section of the wall where Leo and Una's fight was. He arrived there to find a soldier falling down the stairs. He got up to see Macbeth standing over him.

"More invaders, you'll all pay for this!" he growled and lunged forward.

The move had no control, and Macbeth grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the gut. As he bent over trying to catch his breath, Macbeth clubbed him with both fists, knocking him out.

Rachel had the easiest time of them all seeing through the sand. Of course, with out the goggles, she wouldn't be able to see at all, but that was a different issue. She had them, and while the storm reduced her visibility to equal that of her normal 'human' vision, it was better then what many of the others had to deal with. She had managed to jump a couple of Illuminati soldiers and knocked them out with well aimed punches, or merely catching them by surprise and throwing them. She had managed to take out a couple of the of soldiers on the rooftops that way.

But not all of them were so easily distracted by Coyote's sandstorm. As she neared the buildings that made up the offices and barracks of the base, one man quit firing blindly into the sandstorm and turned his weapon to her. He fired three shots, and Rachel dove to her left to avoid them, but it wasn't far enough. One round hit her straight in the elbow and had enough force to spin her around in the air, and she landed in the dirt in front of him.

The limb hurt, and blood poured from the wound. But Rachael noticed something else, her body was already regenerating the destroyed cells and repairing the broken bones through lycanthropic regeneration. There was no burning and no lasting pain. The soldier had fired an iron round through her and not a silver one. Feeling confident, the soldier stood over her and rolled her onto her back with his foot.

"And now to finish you of, bitch," the soldier growled, and seeming to enjoy the irony in the statement.

He didn't get a second chance to squeeze the trigger. Rachel grabbed the barrel of the rifle and then hit him the face with the weapon. She then slowly got up.

"Two things," Rachel gave a pained growl, as it would take a little while for her body to completely repair everything, "You should have used Silver on me, not Iron. And two, watch your language. There are ladies present."

Above them, the gargoyles watched the ground battle come in. Protected by Coyote's sandstorm, Arthur, Macbeth, and Rachel were driving off the last of the Illuminati's infantry while Reginald made off with one of the armed personnel carriers. Leo, had meanwhile rushed ahead of Una. The bulk of the soldiers firing on Griff's group were on the rooftops of the other buildings in the base, and with two bags of the sleep powder, Una could get them all.

He leaped onto a radio building and pushed the tower down toward the main office building. It landed with a great crash and ended up forcing the troops on it to scatter.

"Now's your chance, Una! Go!" Leo urged as Una came forward.

On the top of the garage, Griff noticed the changes in the battle. Rachel had actually dealt with a few of the Illuminati on the rooftops by throwing those on the ground that she had defeated at them. The rest were turning toward Leo and Una's attack as they had taken out at least three more.

"Come on, tally-ho!" Griff urged and launched in a swift dive toward one of the soldiers turning to fire on Una. Octavia and Lancelot were right behind him.

Una had managed to get one more Illuminati soldier sleeping with her spell, but as Leo moved to support her with Chloe close behind, the unicorn-like gargoyle found herself looking down the barrel of one of the last couple of soldier's guns.

"Don't move!" the soldier ordered, "Hand's up!"

Leo and Chloe skidded to a halt behind Una.

"Hands up!" the soldier repeated the order.

He didn't get the chance to fire as Una watched Griff glide between them. As he left, Una noticed the man's gun in his talons. He began to back away only take Una's fist to his face.

"Nice one…" Chloe gasped in surprise as the guy fell unconscious at Una's feet.

"I am more then just a shop keeper," Una replied with a slight smirk and looked to see that Octavia and Lancelot had taken care of the last Illuminati soldiers as well, "and it would appear that this raid is over."

Outside the base, Merlin and Beth looked over the wounded man that Reginald had shot early in the battle.

"We'd need more then what we have," Beth said slowly, "and even then, I'd need a surgery…"

"No, Beth," Merlin told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You have the stone… use it to heal him…"

"And be a witch?" Beth asked.

"We don't have much of a choice if you intend to save him," Merlin told her.

And with that, Beth sighed heavily, "You're right… of course."

She then pulled out the stone she had recovered from Cambodia. The rock that gave the fey their powers… the rock that made up the island of Avalon… he rock she had used to cast a spell to save the others in the Illuminati fort.

"Because it is of fey origin, you may not need to be versed in any of the known magical languages among the first and second races," Merlin told her, "focus your inner strength on healing this man of his wounds."

"I'll try…" Beth said slowly and then said, "heal… heal… HEAL…"

A soft glow slowly managed to pulse of the stone and spread over the wounded Illuminati soldier's wounds.

"You're doing it!" Merlin encouraged, "keep going."

The man's wounds were slowly healing as Beth continued her half chant to heal him. After a few moments, the man's wounds closed and he started to sit up. When he realized he had no weapons and saw Reginald standing nearby, he gulped.

"For betraying your country to a secretive organization, I hereby inform you that you are now a prisoner of the British people," Reginald told him.

"You'll never win," the soldier challenged.

"We've won today," Reginald answered as he noticed Julia arriving with Catherine's mob in the area.

"You seem to have done well, here," Catherine commented Arthur as most of his group moved toward the APC they had taken.

Catherine Silver's people were collecting up the weapons that had been undamaged by the sandstorm or by Arthur's use of Excalibur. So far they had found enough to equip a fair number of them, though they found nothing that would be effective against armored vehicles, which was actually a relief to Macbeth, since he and Chloe would be staying behind to help Catherine Silver.

"We've done what we could," Arthur commented.

"So what will you do next?" Catherine asked.

"My group will be heading to Stonehenge to restore Merlin's powers," Arthur told her, "Macbeth and Chloe will stay behind to provide your people with as much help as possible if you truly wish to fight."

"We do," Catherine answered.

"Then we'll all need to move quickly," Macbeth answered, "we may have defeated the garrison here, but I doubt the Illuminati will let us have our way with it for long."

"I can hear sirens in the distance," Rachel whispered into Arthur's ear. She had resumed human form, but her senses were still sharp, "they'll be here soon."

Arthur nodded and turned to Macbeth, "Good luck."

"And to you as well," Macbeth nodded as the two shook hands and then departed.

**Illuminati Headquarters in London…**

"The whole base!" Two roared at the officer delivered the report.

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant answered nervously, "their fey did most of the work and that allowed them to defeat the entire garrison at the north base…"

"And by the time you and the units from central London arrived, they were gone," Two growled.

"Yes," the lieutenant answered nervously, "we also found that they have stolen one APC and several pieces of weaponry. I'm afraid we do not know he is know."

"I know where he's going," Two growled angrily with clenched fists.

**To Be Continued…**


	33. Once And Future King: Restrictions

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Once And Future King: Reaction".

Once And Future King: Restrictions

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**London**

Macbeth glanced from the rooftop at the mansion that he had bought for himself to live in as part of his return to the British Isles and to get away from the constant barrage of battles he had been drawn into in New York. Some of them had been his own doing. Hunting Demona, searching for Merlin's spells, fighting Arthur for the right to wield Excalibur, and then ending with the various events that surrounded the discovery of Goliath's clan. Arguing with the assistant DA before she was promoted and ultimately killed by the Quarrymen. Being attacked by Demona and injected with a mixed magical and scientific potion that acted as a soul transference spell.

He had come back to Britain to get away from all of that. Now, he found himself involved in a similar battle, except now it was the Illuminati and their pursuit of trying to thwart Arthur. Something that Macbeth could understand. Arthur's legacy as a hero to the British people, which by now seemed to apply to both the descendants of the Saxons that Arthur fought in the Middle Ages, the Britons who had made up Arthur's knights, and even the Normans who came well after Arthur had gone to Avalon. Part of him continually wondered why people would oppose such a hero.

Of course, in theory he did know. The hero could either be in the service of the wrong cause as Rommel had been or carried such ambition that his success was intolerable to the British people, as Napoleon had been. But, Arthur Pendragon was never in either class of "tragic" heroes from German and French history. In his own time, even the Scots wanted a king that could be like Arthur.

"Anything interesting?" came the voice of Catherine Silver

Macbeth glanced to the woman who had come to lead the people that had joined their little rebellion against the Illuminati. They had originally joined to get Arthur, but that plan of the Illuminati's seemed to be thwarted for the moment. He would have preferred Chloe or one of the other gargoyles that had remained in London while Arthur's group went to Stonehenge to restore Merlin's powers. They had more experience in some level of combat then these rag tag 'rebels'. But, it was presently daytime and Chloe and the gargoyles still in London were in stonesleep for the time being.

"Not really," Macbeth answered, "it is what I expected though. Overrunning that base last night finally got them to do something serious."

"What about the prisoners you said you had?" Catherine wondered.

"Coyote took them to Avalon," Macbeth answered, "all the Illuminati will find there is an empty mansion."

"Can we recover anything we need from the Mansion?" Catherine asked.

"Only after they've left, and assuming they don't leave guards," Macbeth answered, "they'll operate like soldiers. We can't kill them all simultaneously. We don't have the technology for it... and even there, such action would be tough to try even if we had the technology. And because of that, when one guard fails to report in, all the rest will begin to search for who got the guard that didn't report in."

"So what you suggest we do?" Catherine asked.

"Until Chloe and the gargoyles with us awaken, nothing more then stay hidden and keeping a look out on what they're doing," Macbeth answered, "after dusk we'll see if we can get the attention of some of their local units. Maybe distract attention away from the British army in the north or in Northern Ireland. Give them a chance to counterattack."

"You think it'd work?" Catherine asked.

"It could," Macbeth replied, "all will depend on how the metaphorical dice roll."

**Elsewhere In London**

"Did you find anything?" Two asked the officer that reported back to him.

The defeat of the Illuminati garrison defending one of the forts guarding London in cause the "Anti-Illuminati" troops managed to get Two to authorize securing taking the mansion that Arthur and the London clan seemed to operate out of. He had hoped that Arthur would be caught there, or at least give Two some leads as to where they were going, aside from the obvious of going to Stonehenge. But, according to the report he just received, nothing of that nature was uncovered. All they uncovered was the fact that Macbeth was the actual owner of the mansion, not Arthur.

"Nothing more then what I have told you," the officer answered, "We've placed guards... but they may not return for awhile."

"You didn't even find Six?" Two demanded.

"No," the officer answered, "it is likely that Arthur has moved his prisoners elsewhere. Possibly underground. A couple of squads have been dispatched already to search London's sewers and subways."

"No, Pendragon is after one thing," Two answered, "that is a cure for his teacher. Merlin. That can only be obtained at Stonehenge."

"Then if we know where he is going, perhaps we could consider some form of disengagement," a general officer who was there suggested, "Britain has been under the Illuminati's rule for centuries and the offensive here is dividing the country heavily. Both sides have taken casualties, and we will certainly take more if we continue to try and conquer Britain."

"No," Two answered, "Arthur represents Britain and the people will realize who we're truly fighting sooner or later. They will find it hard to believe that the greatest hero of their island's past is a threat to the future and we will have to fight them again. Better to secure our rule NOW while we have the men and machinery to do it."

"Of course, sir," the officer answered, "I mean no disrespect."

"Now," Two continued, "We will focus our movements to secure our reserves around Stonehenge and London."

"What of the main battle lines?" the General officer asked.

"They will have to hold for now," Two answered, "Arthur and Macbeth are far more important."

**The Captured APC, Reading**

Arthur sat quietly in the passenger area of the APC that they had taken from the Illuminati base. Beth, Merlin, and Rachael sat nearby. The stone statues of Griff, Julia, Octavia, and Lancelot were also in there with them, and much work had been done to make sure the gargoyles wouldn't jostle around as they moved. Griff seemed somewhat surprised when he learned the vehicle was actually of German manufacture. He had seemed to accept that Germany of the present era was very different from the Germany he faced in the Battle of Britain, but he had still wondered why the British Army bought German equipment. They had gone into stonesleep before Merlin could explain the answer.

"How are things going up there?" Arthur asked through a small window that lead to the cab of the vehicle.

"Good and quiet," Reginald commented, "Coyote's done a good job with the sentries guarding the roundabouts and town entrances."

"They aren't that vigilant," Coyote answered from his seat beside Reginald, "all that's needed is a little nudge and they dance to my tune."

Arthur slowly nodded. Reginald was driving the vehicle as his experience with the modern British army gave him the best chance of driving the APC that they had "liberated". Coyote also rode up front to insure that no one stopped them. Illuminati sentries in places did stop the vehicle occasionally, as an APC isn't something any military would have wondering about the countryside alone. It lacked the firepower and the protection to do that. The only possible exception might be the American Bradley Fighting Vehicle, but Reginald had also mentioned that the Americans did tend to keep them together as well. And Coyote would use his magic to provide just enough of a nudge to get the sentries to let them by. So far that plan appeared to working.

"Where are we?" Beth wondered curiously.

"We're going around the town of Reading," Reginald answered.

Beth glanced to Merlin sitting next to her and then to Rachael seated next to Arthur and then tried to stifle a chuckle.

"So, I suppose that Reading is the literary capital of Britain?" Beth then asked with a chuckle.

"Very funny," Rachael commented, and then asked to Reginald in front, "so what would be the planned route from here?"

"Best to stay on the main roads," Reginald answered, "this thing won't handle smaller roads easily. We'll turn south at Newbury."

"Okay then," Rachael nodded and then looked up.

Her mind dwelled on warning/prophecy that Luna had given her. A lot of it revolved around her lycanthropy and that was enough to make her ponder her predicament on its own. She had managed to accept the fact that she was a werewolf. The fact that her mind wasn't replaced by some strange and mindless bloodlust helped. But she wasn't a great fan of lycanthropy.

Despite Luna's son wanting werewolves to be a replacement for the gargoyles destroyed by the first Unseelie War, humanity never had much like for them. Nearly every folklore story painted them as the villain, either of a curse or through deliberate evil. Modern movies didn't drop that comparison. And the movie werewolves were commonly killed for their evil or because of their curse. And even in the few in which the werewolf was the hero, he was actually struggling against his own lycanthropy and was searching for a way to save himself from it. It was not a positive image.

Now, Arthur, Merlin, Beth's gargoyle sister, Elisa, and their parents all helped her accept her lycanthropy. And she was grateful to them for that. She was now good enough with her condition that she could leave them. Go back to York. Go back and protect her sister. See if she could get her job back. And given Luna's warning, sometimes that seemed like the smart idea. She had warned of a tough fight and tough decisions.

Rachael could only guess what that meant. By helping Arthur where she could, she'd found herself in plenty of odd scrapes. Some scientific, some magical, all beyond what she would have thought possible before she met Arthur. And now she was facing another big fight to restore Merlin's powers. And Luna had said her greatest test was coming soon. And Rachael could guess what it was. And it wasn't a hard guess and one she didn't like.

She looked down at her hands and clinched them into fists for a moment.

"I don't want to have to kill anyone," Rachael thought silently, "I don't want to be a monster... I can settle for a furry protector, but I do not want to be a monster."

She glanced around the passenger/cargo area of the APC they were riding in. With the exception of Beth, nearly everyone had made the decision to take human life at some point. Reginald was a soldier, and Rachael had seen him fire on the Illuminati soldiers with lethal accuracy. While she had not seen Coyote use lethal force against anyone, she hadn't known him long, and knew that he served a higher court and was involved in both Unseelie Wars. She guessed that somewhere in Coyote's past he had had to make that decision.

Merlin didn't seem like the type, but she guessed that in his years as an advisor and the foes that he faced in the long years of history that there had to be one event that forced him to take the life of another. And Arthur... Arthur's symbol was a broadsword. He had lead his people and his knights into battle against the Saxons. And all the stories told of his duel to the death to save Britain from Mordred, which some texts say was Arthur's illegitimate son. But they both came from a different time when warfare was done face to face. Yet, both were considered heroes in all folklore. Those that died at their hands were villains of some sort. Invaders out for conquest or tyrants and traitors at home.

And that was what she struggled with as she rode along. She didn't want to be a killer. In every fight she'd been in she'd made sure no one ever got clawed or cut on her fangs. This wasn't just a concern about turning others into werewolves. She had feared she might accidentally catch someone in the neck or some other vital region and she'd kill someone by accident. She didn't want to do that. But as she rode, Luna's warning played in her head and a question arose.

"What if I have no choice?" Rachael wondered, "what if I have to...?"

She sighed and looked down.

"Are you okay?"

Rachael looked to see Arthur looking at her with some concern on his face. It showed her that he was no cold blooded killer. He had killed, yes, but because he had to, and didn't seem like the person who would make that decision easily... even if for the right reasons. Kind and wise. Noble and generous. He cared for his friends as much as he cared for his "kingdom".

"...I'm falling in love with a man old enough to be an ancestor of mine," Rachael suddenly realized but kept her thoughts hidden. Eventually she answered him, "I'm fine. Really. Just thinking over things. What may be coming."

"Hopefully this the end," Arthur answered, "the last battle in this entire mess. And the people can live in peace."

Rachael managed to nod quietly.

**London, Illuminati HQ**

"We've begun transferring troops to the Stonehenge area," the General Officer reported, "Moving by helicopter and by plane they should be ready by this evening."

"Good," Two nodded, "Arthur won't make his move until dusk so he can have his gargoyle allies help him."

"I'm still concerned about the British army," the General answered, "they'll be at our rear and I'm certain they've noticed our moving of troops away from the front lines."

"We've bloodied them too heavily in the opening blows," Two dismissed the general's concerns, "this isn't Khan who gained access to our technology and used it to create an army loyal to him rather then to us. The British do not have the reserves to beat us. All they have are Arthur and Merlin. And once they die, final victory will only be a matter of time."

The general slowly nodded. The moves struck him as risky, but there was some logic behind it. The anti-Illuminati forces were outnumbered and didn't have the numbers for large battles in the open. They had held out in the area where "England" transitioned into "Scotland" was a bottleneck that the Illuminati numbers couldn't easily push through. And the more mountainous terrain of the British gave them another defensive advantage. The Illuminati could play a battle that ran like the ebb and flow of the tides. Draw the British into attack and then crush them in open.

And Arthur had only a small number of allies to help. The forces being transferred to the area would heavily outnumber Arthur and his allies. The odds of victory through sheer numbers alone were highly likely.

The general's concerns dwelled on the real prospect of a two front war. Not that two front wars couldn't be won. America proved that in World War II. America fought on two major fronts. InEurope as part of the Western Allies and loosely allied with Stalin's Soviet Union, and in the Pacific against the Japanese where the US was largely alone. But the victories countries had won while facing two fronts were few and far between. And they commonly only occurred when it was an unparalleled superpower of the day.

"What of Macbeth?" the general wondered, "we're fairly certain he isn't with Arthur at present and that he might be somewhere in London."

"You've tightened security, have you not?" Two asked.

"Of course," the general answered, "he won't be able to ambush another base again... and there are some additional units headed to London."

"Then Macbeth should be well contained," Two answered.

"There are some vague reports of him having a larger following," the general warned.

"Can they beat us in fair battle?" Two questioned.

"Unlikely," the general answered.

"Then simply use battle against him," Two ordered, "draw him into the open and kill his followers."

The general slowly nodded and then turned to see Two heading out.

"Where are you headed, sir?" the general wondered, "shall I have your body guard ready?"

"Stonehenge, General," Two replied, "I intend to see my victory come true."

And with that Two left. The general only gave a nervous sigh. This would complicate things further. He had heard rumors of Council Members, or representatives of the Council being killed in the present war in China against Khan. And Arthur's forces had already captured Six, Two's fellow Councilmember. Should they take Two as well, the Illuminati would face greater trouble in Britain then they faced at present. He wanted to advise against this, but you never argued with your superiors. Especially when they were spoiling for a fight.

**Underground**

Macbeth and Catherine had returned to the spot where the large group of anti-Illuminati fighters were gathering for time being. It was a large section of London's subways. It consisted of a large station way, and was in an area that the Illuminati wouldn't use the subways for. It also had direct access to the areas to the English Mutates had established as their own version of the Labyrinth where Talon's clan lived in Manhattan.

"Any of them hunting you?" a bulldog mutate asked, his wings caped as they returned.

"Probably," Macbeth answered, "but none of them are here."

"So what is the plan?" Richard Bucket asked from a spot where he was guarding the entrance that Macbeth and Catherine had just gone through.

Macbeth sighed...

"We need to keep the Illuminati's focus away from Arthur," Macbeth sighed, "which means we actually need to force a major engagement... something we are not equipped to do."

"If I may ask, if we aren't equipped for it, why should we do it now?" the bulldog mutate asked.

"Because it may be the only way to help Arthur," Macbeth answered, "He's the one the Illuminati is truly worried about it. The open conquest of the United Kingdom is merely a side show. If Arthur wouldn't here they wouldn't have bothered. And he is their main focus. If we do nothing, while Arthur is engaged in what he thinks will turn the tide, the Illuminati will focus most of their reserves on Arthur alone and he will surely fail."

"But if we act we might fail!" a different resistance fighter countered.

"But we'd pull attention to London," Catherine spoke up, "If most of the army goes to Stonehenge after Arthur and we take London... they'd loose the best principle base in the region and would also open an opportunity for the main British Army to counterattack in the North. They'd then be caught between us, Arthur, and the army. Three separate fronts. All of them can succeed for the Illuminati. If they focus solely on us and Arthur, the army will capitalize and win. Freeing Britain. If they focus on us and the army, but ignore Arthur, he will cure Merlin and allow him to unleash some magic that could drive the Illuminati out, freeing Britain. And if they focus on Arthur and the Army, we can free London, screwing up their communications and control and possibly decapitate their leadership..."

"Allowing Arthur and the army to regroup against forces with no command and little ability to cooperate," Macbeth finished, "freeing Britain... it is risky, as all plans are, but if it works, it will freeBritain from the Illuminati."

"A sacrifice..." Richard Bucket commented.

"For the greater good," Macbeth nodded.

"Best come this way," the bulldog mutate answered, "they do patrol the tunnels from time to time. This area is too exposed. Best to move to the main London Labyrinth area."

Macbeth nodded and followed with Catherine Silver, Richard Bucket and the other resistance member moving along. The 'London Labyrinth' as it was called was crowded with all the bodies in it, but it was secure and allowed Guinevere, Gawain, Chloe, Leo, and Una to sleep with the security that no one would deliberately smash them.

Moving along through a crowd of people and mutates, Macbeth approached a crudely drawn map of London. It included the main Illuminati bases and the buildings that the Illuminati had taken over as military headquarters areas. Macbeth's move to draw them out and away from Stonehenge would have to involve at least one of these areas.

"Catherine and I have looked over much of London," Macbeth answered, "the Mansion is not usable. However, the best target is here..."

Macbeth pointed to the main headquarters area the Illuminati was using.

"These are the buildings the Illuminati is using as their main military headquarters in London," Macbeth continued, "And where the Council Member Two is operating. One good strike should take out a portion of their elite units in southern England and possibly decapitate the Illuminati's leadership..."

"And even if not," Catherine continued, "It'll draw troops to London. Then... if it isn't a fight where we could stand and fight, we can use the streets and alleys to our advantage."

"Wings might give us some aide," the bulldog commented, "though I'll need to confer with the rest of the London mutates."

Macbeth nodded, "In the meantime, I would suggest that all weapons be readied for a real fight. Because we move at sundown."

**Stonehenge**

Two got out of the helicopter to be greeted by the commander of the units being transferred to the area around the Stonehenge monument. He glanced to the Neolithic monument and gave a slight sigh. It was the key to the entire effort. People had all sorts of theories as to where it came from. Some of them even went as far as aliens building them. In reality, the Fey had laid the design and insured the people who made it had either the strength or the ropes, levers, and even pulleys to insure that the monument could be constructed.

Man used the monument for telling time in the sense of the seasons, but the Fey's purposes were for their own security. Beings that naturally wielded magic couldn't always be imprisoned, particularly if they were clever enough to figure ways around the spells of those more powerful then themselves. Madoc's starting of the Second Unseelie War after Oberon's death proved that. Even exile was not an end to conflict. So the fey used certain properties in the rocks of Stonehenge, which the Illuminati believed to actually come from Avalon itself originally, to strip a fey, regardless of how powerful, of their natural magic. The process would make it impossible for them to do fey magic or even retain a fey's extremely lengthy lifespan.

Oberon rarely used it, as in the first Unseelie War, his faction was more numerous and possessed Oberon's greater power besides. The Seelie Court preferred to force a battle in that war. Madoc didn't and used Stonehenge to remove some of Oberon's foot soldiers from the battle, and without having to kill them. The Illuminati believed this to be a political move on Madoc's part in that war, to actually make him appear 'merciful'.

And now Two had used it to try and remove Pendragon's best weapon against the Illuminati from the equation, Merlin. But, Merlin had gone through a quest of his own to get his powers back, which occasionally brought him into conflict with Illuminati. That ultimately lead to the present war, where Two would have to keep Merlin out of Stonehenge.

"What is the status?" Two asked.

"We have a full division in place, all infantry with rings of defenses going around Stonehenge and even going around Salisbury," the local commander answered, "most of it is an incomplete system of trenches, but given what you've said his numbers are, we shouldn't have a problem."

"Never underestimate him," Two answered, "Pendragon is nothing if not formidable."

Farther away, Arthur's group was sitting in a field well off the main road. They were on some one's farm, but it appeared abandoned for all intents and purposes. It was assumed the owner fled when the Illuminati invaded or was killed by the Illuminati. And for the moment they were waiting for Coyote. The Southwestern fey had been sent on a recon mission around the Illuminati positions. Arthur hoped that when he returned, there would be a clear picture of their situation.

As they waited, Arthur glanced between Merlin and the horizon. The sun was preparing to set, but hadn't done so yet. He hoped things would go well. As the sun finally set, a flash of light caught their attention and kept them from noticing the London clan members that were with them awakening. Coyote had returned.

"What did you find out?" Reginald asked almost immediately.

"It might be best to wait until the gargoyles are ready before we get too deep into any sort of plan," Coyote commented, "as they will be important."

Reginald turned to see Griff hopping out of the back of the APC that they had rode in. He then sighed and nodded. Griff and the others approached as Beth brought out some food from inside the farm house. There was some nervousness on the issue, as it would technically be stealing, though Reginald reminded them on the overall situation. They didn't have much choice. They couldn't bring a lot of food with them, and the Illuminati forces would have forced a battle elsewhere if they had stopped to buy food somewhere.

"So, how are things going, your Majesty?" Griff asked to Arthur.

"We're here," Arthur told him, "and Coyote has recently returned with a report on the overall situation."

Griff nodded and turned to Coyote, who seeing that he had everyone's attention, nodded.

"The Illuminati have certainly fortified the area," Coyote explained, "they have a division's worth of infantry with rings of progressively smaller circles of defense lines going to the Stonehengemonument. Not an easy path to get through."

"What are the defense lines?" Reginald asked, "trenches? Bunkers? Any heavy weapons?"

"For the most part it looks like infantry trenches, I'd suppose," Coyote replied, "any sort of "bunker" or heavy weapon emplacement would only be under construction at the moment."

"They're rushing things," Griff commented, "Like England's defenses during the Blitz. When it looked like Hitler was going to invade we dug trenches and threw barbed wire up in many places... if he had managed to get across the channel though... I'm not sure how well they would have stood up... thankfully though he couldn't and we held on."

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "a good thing that 'England' held on. The question is, can we get through these defenses. Even if the trenches thanks to Coyote's and Beth's magics are navigable, a division is an awful lot of soldiers."

"Too much to fight head on," Reginald commented, "even if we could force a bottleneck and keep them occupied... we'd run out of ammunition."

"A battle shouldn't be the objective," Merlin commented, "it is the monument that is important. We must get to the monument and have it be undamaged."

"A doubt a division of soldiers will just let us slip by," Lancelot commented.

"They might if they're distracted by something else," Arthur commented.

"Pardon?" Lancelot looked up, not sure what gave Arthur the idea.

"A distraction is what we need," Arthur answered, "we can't win a straight up fight, so we don't..."

Taking a small stick from a nearby tree, Arthur began to draw a series of circles. He then motioned to the bulk of the group present.

"Most of you could make a feigned attack on the outer lines here," Arthur commented, "but make it good. Deal with a few, but pull back before the Illuminati can counterattack. Hopefully they will think that this is the main effort."

"Hoping they pursue the decoy force while Merlin goes for the monument," Reginald surmised.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "Merlin, Rachael, Coyote and myself will then sneak in to the monument..."

"I might be better with the decoy," Coyote commented, "if they truly take the bait, they'll need help to level the playing field somewhat."

"Yes... but Beth isn't as experienced with magic and would prefer to avoid it," Arthur answered, "with the decoy force... she doesn't have to do as much and could even provide whatever aide she can medically."

"That won't be an option," Reginald answered, "If she doesn't wish to fight, best to keep her here and away from the fighting entirely... because once the fight starts, whether all out or as a decoy... there will be no time for simple medicine... not with the forces we have available to us."

Beth stood nervously. This was possibly the last place she'd want to be. Her family was already 'victimized' by so many weird things. Sevarius had used his mutagenic formula to turn Derek into Talon. The Mage had turned her older sister, Elisa, into a gargoyle. And some Nigerian werepanther had clawed her mother, Diane. She and her father were the only normal members of Clan Maza left, and yet now that was ending.

The source of this was a small stone that Beth had thought might make a good piece of jewelry. Coyote said it was like the rocks that would eventually become Avalon and according to Fey Legends, was the birth of their race. She had originally thought them to be just a story, but later adventures that had seen her helping Arthur had changed that. She had found that she could channel the stone's magic. Like it recognized her, or something.

Merlin had given her some pointers on how to use the stone, of course, but it didn't comfort her much. She didn't want to be a witch, sorceress, whatever... But what choice did she have? She had no luck in trying to call Elisa or her parents, and Arthur did need the help. She'd figured it would be medical help, but increasingly it was clear she would have to become what she didn't want to become. She didn't like it, but she figured there wasn't much choice.

"I can go with Arthur," Beth spoke after a moment, "I'm not comfortable with it... but I think I can manage. Coyote would be better with the 'decoy' force. Besides, with his power, they will expect Coyote to be part of the main force."

"A little chaos into their plans?" Coyote commented, "We'll make a trickster out of you yet!"

Beth only sighed in response.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Merlin asked her in a concerned voice, looking very much like a concerned parent.

"I don't like it if that is what you mean, but it looks like I don't have much choice," Beth answered.

"You're sure?" Arthur asked.

Beth slowly nodded, "If I can raise something that would dissect the soldiers' groupings into smaller groups... you might be able sneak through as necessary. That can leave Coyote to make a bigger scene and lead more troops toward him."

"Very well then," Arthur nodded, "Rachael, Merlin, Beth, and I will try to sneak into the monument. The rest of you are to distract the Illuminati."

"Right-to," Griff nodded.

"Ave Artorius!" Julia and Octavia answered addressing Arthur by the Latin version of his name.

Reginald began shouldering packs of equipment and weapons. Before he turned to head out to a more eastward end of the Illuminati's defense lines, he displaced a flare gun to Arthur.

"This will be our signal that we've begun our attack," Reginald spoke, "best to wait a few moments to see if they actually take the bait."

"I'm sure they will," Merlin commented, "If they know we're coming, they'll suspect any attack on their lines is us..."

"And if it's large enough, they'll assume that any move we make is actually the diversion," Arthur nodded.

**London**

Chloe glided quietly carrying Macbeth over the streets of London toward the area that the Illuminati used as their headquarters. She wasn't too keen on the plan, but there was no choice. Merlin needed a cure, and he couldn't get if the Illuminati guarded Stonehenge with an army. Two of the London mutates glided just behind her carrying two resistance fighters. Each was armed with an anti-tank missile tube. The plan was that the round would be fired into the room they believed the Illuminati leadership was in. If they weren't near a window, they'd break in until they got to their location, use the anti-tank missiles and then flee. Catherine Silver, the rest of the London Clan, and the resistance would then intervene to try and ambush the Illuminati as they pursued them.

"They have guards on nearby roofs," Macbeth pointed, "land in the shadows."

Chloe came down and landed behind a couple of raised portions of the roof.

"You take the guard on the right, I'll take the one on the left," Macbeth whispered to Chloe.

"Right," Chloe answered and crept forward.

The soldier was standing quietly on guard and never noticed she was there. She quietly crept up and brought her fists down on the point where his shoulders met his neck. The man gasped and dropped to his knees from the blow. Before he could scream an alarm, Chloe delivered a haymaker to the man, knocking him out. This alerted the other guard, but as he turned to see what the noise he heard was, Macbeth grabbed him from behind and snapped his neck.

"Two down," Macbeth commented, "and now clear to see where our Illuminati leaders are..."

The main Illuminati general quietly paced a situation room inside the main headquarters area. Field reports continued to come in. Nothing from Stonehenge, but the General didn't entirely expect reports from there. Two had gone there, so the local commander was probably scared to the point of bypassing the chain of command and report tot he man who would hear the reports anyway. There were a few reports from Northern Ireland, they still had some wild man ambushing units throughout that region, though mostly in Ulster. Wales was finally secure, but the main British Army held out inScotland.

And it was the Scottish front that preoccupied the general's thoughts. Defeating Arthur and Merlin would secure the true victory, but they had began a military campaign and neither Arthur nor his teacher were militarily important. If the British Army was ignored, or their forces focused too much on Arthur, the man could end up a rallying symbol, even if killed. And an army that was unbowed not totally beaten could always come back... and the British army was still in the field. So far, it appeared that they had only launched spoiling attacks. Like they were testing to see if the force in front of them was still strong.

"I pray you're..." the general began when he heard a "pop" go off outside his widow.

He turned to see what looked like an anti-tank rocket heading right toward him.

The explosion destroyed the window and blew several pieces of brick outward. The damage left a large hole in the wall where Macbeth could see what remained of the man they had seen pacing the office.

"Was that the Councilmember?" the resistance fighter that had fired the rocket asked.

"No," Macbeth answered, "Looked more like a general. Come, we must go."

"But don't we blast the first troops that come running out of that door?" the second resistance fighter wondered, looking down to the front door of the building they had just fired a rocket at.

Just as he finished, shots from the rooftops nearby rang out. They missed those that were with Macbeth, but the did enough to get their attention.

"If we weren't already outflanked, yes," Macbeth answered, "but we are outflanked and we must move! Now go!"

Macbeth then glanced back to the smoke coming out of the building they'd just fired a rocket into.

"And now the battle begins," Macbeth thought to himself.

**Stonehenge**

"I don't like all this marching about," Griff commented, "It would be a lot easier if we could glide in..."

"They'll be expecting you to attack from the air," Reginald commend, "besides, there aren't any buildings or trees tall enough the immediate area."

"I know," Griff sighed, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Reginald sighed and lead the group forward. He stopped when they reached a row of bushes. He carefully peered through to see the first defense line. In the area there were only a couple of Illuminati soldiers, though the trench did spread and there were more infantryman elsewhere down the line.

"Are you ready?" Reginald asked to Coyote, who had moved along beside them, "we're going to need your help to be able to get in. Until the gargoyles can pick up their weapons to use, they'll need to get in close... and to do that, they'd need to glide or have some other help."

"Of course I'm ready," Coyote answered, "one localized fog storm is ready... best to use your flare before Arthur and Merlin lose the ability to see it."

Reginald nodded and readied the flare gun and aimed it into the sky. The battle was about to begin.

Closer to the monument, Two looked up to see a large red flare fly into the air to the east of their position. Sounds of gunshots followed shortly after.

"The attack begins," Two spoke, "Prepare to send all troops to the eastern sector."

"What was the flare for?" the local commander wondered.

"It was probably the signal to attack," Two answered.

"But to who?" the commander answered, "if they're all together, Arthur shouldn't need a flare to signal the attack. He'd give the command vocally."

"You think there are two groups?" Two asked him.

"I believe so," the commander answered, "the question is however, what is the purpose of these two groups and we won't know that until more information comes in."

"And what would you suggest then?" Two asked.

"Until more information comes in, I would actually order no major changes," the commander explained, "Resist the attackers, obviously, but not to redeploy other units from their positions until we're certain this force isn't a distraction from Arthur and Merlin."

"Very well then," Two answered, "We'll hold where we are for now."

The fog was thick as Griff's team attacked into the first trench line. The use of the rifles the Illuminati soldiers carried was odd to him, and only barely manageable, but given the scale of the fight in front of them... he accepted the need to use them. Their attack triggered fire directed toward them, but in the fog, much of it seemed to be poorly aimed. The strongest counter attacks came from the flanks as troops in other portions of the trench came down it to try and crush their flanks.

Reginald covered one flank while Coyote moved toward the other flank. Five Illuminati soldiers came rushing into the fog at full speed. Whispering a small spell, Coyote raised several large cacti that grew up and around the charging soldiers. As they ran into the prickly plants, the gave pained screams, which continued as the cacti grew even taller and "branches" grew to wrap around the soldiers. They didn't sustain lethal wounds, but it was enough to take them out of the fight and protect one flank.

However, there was one place the counter attack was not coming in mass, and that was the center. Shots were aimed at them from the center, but thanks to the fog, they were poorly aimed.

"Does anyone see a lack of a massive counter attack around here?" Octavia questioned.

"Not that bad," Reginald answered, "it'll let us whittle down their forces."

"Yes, but what if they're testing to see if we're a decoy force or not?" Octavia replied, "we're supposed to draw their forces to us to give Arthur's group an easier route through their defenses."

"They want to see an Arthur and Merlin?" Coyote commented and gestured to the dirt that made up the wall of the trench, "we'll give them an Arthur and Merlin."

Griff then turned to see the dirt leave the wall of the trench and move to the ground among them. The piles rapidly took on the shape of Arthur and Merlin, right down to their armor, clothing, and what looked like their weapons.

"Clones?" Lancelot wondered.

"No," Coyote answered, "think of them more like a wax robot. And they're actually still only dirt. The Illuminati, however, should think they're the real deal."

"And giving us their attention," Reginald recognized the trick, "very clever."

"It better be," Coyote answered, "this has me pretty close to my limit."

Elsewhere, the real Arthur began his first move. Seeing the flare he turned Rachael and Beth who were standing nearby. Merlin was at the rear of the group, holding the electricity-blaster that Macbeth had given Arthur to use. Arthur, meanwhile stuck with his preferred weapon: Excalibur.

"The time is now," Arthur spoke firmly.

Rachael nodded and closed her eyes, "right..." she then opened them, to reveal that they had taken on a golden color to begin her transformation, "...on ward to victory!"

While Rachael began to transform behind her, Beth held her 'Avalon Stone' toward the line of trenches in front of them.

"Hedge maze... hedge maze..." Beth repeated the same phrase keeping her mind focused on the image of a thick hedge of bushes growing out of the ground and cutting the area up into pathways that they could follow without having to charge heavily defended strong points.

Across the field, a group of Illuminati soldiers stood quietly staring into the darkness. They couldn't see much beyond their noses. Some of it was Coyote's "fog" drifting over the battlefield, but some of it was the blackout that Two had ordered. The reasoning was that with no light to guide them, Arthur might actually stumble past Stonehenge and not know it. How he could do that with a group of gargoyles, a female werewolf, and a member of the Seelie Court, the soldiers didn't know. They did know, however, not to question orders.

"You think we're in the wrong spot, right?" one overly nervous private asked as the sounds of the gun battle where Reginald's team had attacked was occurring.

"That's probably a distraction," another soldier answered, "so we gotta keep lookout."

The first looked on when another sound echoed loudly from some distance out in the darkness. It was the howl of a wolf, or in Arthur's case, the female werewolf that had taken to traveling with him.

"It's the werewolf!" the first soldier screamed and blindly fired a few shots, most of them bouncing off the ground and doing no harm.

"Will you knock it off!" the second soldier stopped him and pulled the gun away for a moment, "all that howl does is tell us she's out there. For all we know, she could be miles away... or that could even be a recording. Wait for a target!"

"Yes, sir," the first answered.

Then, almost as suddenly as they heard the sound of Rachael's howl at the end of her transformation, thick bushes suddenly grew up out of the ground. They grew tall and thick. Nearly fifteen feet tall and five feet thick. The branches twisted and turned, and the second solder found that he couldn't push through them, and worse, some of the interwoven branches were rose bushes, and he hit a couple of thorns.

"The fey..." the second soldier grumbled, "keep a look out. EVERYONE, keep a look out!"

"I don't know how deep the maze should go, but it should narrow the amount of guns shooting at us," Beth said slowly as she moved to catch her breath.

Her spell had worked and several rows of bushes had suddenly grown up and went out into the darkness. She could hear sounds of confusion as it appeared that in some places the bushes had grown up to envelop the Illuminati soldier in the area. The man could breathe, but he also couldn't move and was trapped there.

"It'll do for a start," Arthur answered, "Rachael, can you get close enough insure that we have a clear route?"

"Which opening?" Rachael asked and nervously gulped.

A few shots had been fired and they had bounced off the street between them when she finished transforming, and there was some concern about her own mortality as well. If they had silver rounds, she was toast. And she had no way of knowing if they did have silver rounds.

"The middle one," Arthur pointed with Excalibur, "Merlin can give you cover."

Rachael turned to Merlin, who had come forward with his electricity blaster. He nodded to show that he was ready.

"Okay," Rachael nodded and began to move forward.

The soldiers either heard her footsteps or saw the light reflected off her eyes and began to fire at her. She dodged well, though it also forced her onto all fours. As she moved forward, she heard the sound of Merlin's electricity blaster going off. She saw the blast hit one man in the opening she was rushing toward as well as one in a different opening. And while it didn't knock them all out, it did get most of the others to put their heads down. That allowed her to leap into the trench and backhand the soldier there, who was actually cowering before her.

As the man fell unconscious, Rachael turned back to where the others were.

"Move quickly!" Rachael called back, "make sure that Merlin lays down cover fire!"

And so they repeated that cycle again. Merlin laid down covering fire with the electricity blaster while Arthur and Beth raced to the trench that Rachael had occupied. Once there, Beth hesitantly looked at one of the fallen weapons.

"You might want to take one of those," Rachael commented.

"I'd be no good," Beth sighed, "the recoil would break my arms. Elisa and my dad are the ones who are good with guns in my family... and with her current gargoyle-hood, Elisa's fingers are probably too big to use a gun..."

"They can manage," Merlin commented as he arrived, "Not as good as humans, mind you, but they can manage. The reason gargoyle's tend to avoid using weapons is because of their greater strength, reflexes, and their stonesleep. It favors melee fighting and clans have taught their hatchlings that. So, while gargoyles have been known to use weapons, they prefer weapons that fit their skills."

"Just remember that Elisa was turned into a gargoyle," Beth answered, "she didn't hatch as one."

"True," Merlin nodded.

"Next move?" Beth asked.

"We follow the maze," Arthur commented and began to slowly walk down the path that Beth had created.

**To Be Continued...**


	34. Once And Future King: Restoration

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Once And Future King: Restrictions".

Once And Future King: Restoration

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**London**

Macbeth and Chloe rapidly fled the area that was the main Illuminati headquarters with the couple of resistance members and London mutates that had gone with them. The idea was to ignite an uprising in London, which because it was the capital and main headquarters of the Illuminati operation would draw Illuminati troops away from either Scotland or Stonehenge. Either location was a good place to draw Illuminati strength away from. If the Scottish front was weakened, the main portion of the British army might be able to recover and drive south to liberate the country. If from Stonehenge, that would make things easier for Arthur and would insure that Merlin got his powers back, which Macbeth had to feel would lead to the Illuminati's defeat, since Arthur and Merlin had been their reasoning for invading the British isles.

"Set us down on that rooftop there!" Macbeth pointed to a rooftop about a block away as Illuminati infantrymen fired on them from the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded the Illuminati's London headquarters.

"We gonna hold here?" one of the resistance members asked after a moment.

"For a little while," Macbeth answered, "Just to make sure they pursue us."

Most of the shots that were being fired were high or wide, hitting other buildings or going harmlessly over their heads. This didn't ease the resistance fighters though, as none of them were military trained, and only knew how to use the anti-tank rockets that they had been given after Macbeth explained how to use them. The equipment had been taken from the Illuminati base, but it was the best available, just as these resistance fighters were the best available 'soldiers'. They wouldn't last long in a straight up fight with any army.

But that wasn't quite Macbeth's plan for the fight. The attack was sudden and quick, and intended to kill the Illuminati Councilmember that was supervising the Illuminati invasion. That potion had failed, though it did appear that they'd killed a high ranking general instead. That would serve to draw the Illuminati out of their regional command posts in London and the bases that ringed it, and of course draw reinforcements from other fronts the Illuminati were trying to fight on. Once in the city, Macbeth intended to draw the Illuminati troops into ambushes, crossfire actions, and force them to assault as heavily fortified a strongpoint as could be managed, in areas where the gargoyles and mutates could use their strengths to their utmost advantage.

"Wait until infantry start to head this way on street level," Macbeth urged on resistance fighter, "Once they get to the main street area in front of us, blast them."

"A tank rocket against one guy?" the resistance fighter wondered.

"Trust me, it'll take out several," Macbeth answered, "and even if it ends up being only one guy... it'll still be mighty effective for ending that one guy's night."

They waited patiently until the saw ten Illuminati soldiers advancing rather loose formation. They made it halfway toward the rooftop that Macbeth's group had moved to when the resistance fighter fired the anti-tank rocket. The projectile flew through the night and exploded in the middle of the formation. Only three of them survived in any way that would allow them to keep fighting, and they spread even further out, using buildings, staircases, light poles, anything they could find as cover. Once they did have cover they began firing on the building Macbeth's group was on. This time the shots were much closer.

"And we move again," Macbeth spoke and urged them all to move to the other end of the rooftop before the Chloe and the present mutates were to try gliding again. So they wouldn't be leaping into incoming fire.

Inside the Illuminati headquarters, despite the power that the society had openly seized in the UK, things were not very ordered or controlled. A great blast had rocked the main headquarters area. When a pair of army lieutenants in a nearby office responded to it, the found the Illuminati general in charge of the entire invasion blown to bits by an anti-tank rocket. Their response was an obvious one, they immediately reported the assassination to all who could hear within range of their vocal cords and then called all who needed to know and called for a general counterattack to get the people that had assassinated the Illuminati general. The troops had rushed out, but there was no one, as yet, who could actively command the troops or even rally those stationed in the other bases the Illuminati had built around London.

And while grunts outside the main Illuminati headquarters rushed to chase after Macbeth and his team, an inexperienced Colonel found himself in the unexpected role of replacing the assassinated Illuminati general. He had never had any real command before in the army he had served in as a cover to his Illuminati service and was largely a paper pusher. Now, he found himself with a very real fight as both lieutenants finished their explanations on what they had found.

"He was all over the place!" one lieutenant said in a startled voice, clearly shaken by what he had seen.

"Yes, rockets tend to do that," the colonel answered, trying to sound like he was cool under pressure, but in truth he was just as terrified as they were, "but how strong was the force? How many shots did they fire? Where are they holding out?"

This was basic sort of fact finding that was to be expected. The colonel knew that much. Once it got beyond that, he didn't know what he would do. He needed guidance from Two. He would have the appropriate attack strategies in case Macbeth attacked. He and the Illuminati commander had planned out the counterattack that would happen if Macbeth or Arthur ever tried something. But Two was in Stonehenge and could not be reached. This left the colonel alone.

"Only one or two... they fired once from across the street and then fled south," the other lieutenant explained quickly, "we sent men after them... but..."

They were second guessing their judgment. As if the colonel did know what he was doing.

"No, going after them is good," the colonel nodded, "go after them in full force and make them come reveal where they've been operating out of."

**Stonehenge**

Meanwhile, Two faced a very different problem. And it was one far more central to the Illuminati's struggle in Britain then the city of London. His issue was Arthur Pendragon, himself. Defeating the 'Once and Future King' would end the Illuminati's need to wage war against Britain and they could return the way things were and retake the UK through more secretive means. And to insure that Arthur Pendragon would die in his attempts to restore Merlin's powers he had moved a great numbers of Illuminati soldiers to the area and had them fortify it.

To top it off, he had come as well. He was not the most powerful of wizards, but he was plenty strong enough to deal with a depowered Merlin, a novice witch, and a group of gargoyles and a werewolf whose attacks were all physical in nature. The key was the fey that been traveling with Arthur of late. They fey wasn't the most powerful of the Third Race, but they were always hard to kill. Iron had to be used, which traditionally meant close in combat. The Illuminati had had the funds to create iron bullets, but the heavy metal made them ineffective as ordinance, and that would mean they'd have to be right next to the fey in order to be certain they hit a vital organ. And so far, he couldn't rely on that.

The goal Arthur had to get Merlin to was the Stonehenge monument itself. Given the distance he extended the defense lines Two was certain he had the time to insure that the fey would die before they reached the monument, but there were still details to worry over. The problem was that the reports that came to him seemed to indicate that strong sorcery related attacks were made at too points along the lines. In one section a large hedge of rosebushes had grown up rapidly into a sort of maze and immobilized a handful of his men already. Reports on who was attacking through the maze had not come in, but the fact that it appeared out of nowhere indicated some presence of magic and sorcery.

The other site was in a different section of the Illuminati line. It began a thick fog that rolled before another section of the line was directly assaulted by some of Arthur's followers. There were a couple of reports that Arthur and Merlin were with that force, but Two couldn't tell for certain because of the reports of the thick fog. This confirmed his military commander that Arthur was attacking in two separate wings, not one concentrated force.

"So you're right that they're attacking in two wings," Two commented as he turned to a map after the latest reports on the Stonehenge fighting had come in through a radio communications report.

"We will stop them, sir," the military commander spoke, some of it sounding more like a promise to a superior rather then anything that was really fact based, "Pendragon doesn't have the manpower to stop us all!"

"In terms of numbers, you're right," Two nodded, "the question is how those numbers are used... and where the fey is. The fey is sure to be escorting Arthur."

"You're certain, sir?" the military commander asked.

"Merlin has lost his magic, Pendragon's whole scheme is to try and restore Merlin's powers," Two answered, "which means taking control of Stonehenge and killing me. To do that he will need powerful magic. Do you think the youngest Maza girl is strong enough to challenge me?"

"Based on the very limited data the Society has collected on her, I would say no," the military commander sighed, "if her were her older sister, maybe as she faced the Mage in direct combat as well as the bulk of the Unseelie Court... but..."

"This is Elizabeth Maza not Elisa Maza," Two nodded, "and she is neither strong enough nor skilled enough to be a threat to me, which means she can not protect Merlin... No. Arthur and Merlin will be where the fey is. The question is where is the fey?"

The military commander looked at the map and then thought over the facts related to the present attacks. Once he thought over a few things.

"While the reports say that the fey is with both attacks, it is fairly obvious that he would only be with one of the two attacks," the military commander answered, "as our data files say that the fey that they have is not among their most powerful..."

"Coyote is not among their most powerful," Two nodded, "you're repeated the earlier conversation."

"I apologize, sir," the military leader nodded, "but I feel it was necessary to do so... because of this, this I mean to make it clear where the fey and thus where Arthur is... since he is likely be with what is the most direct route toward us."

Two nodded.

"Anyway, based on our information, I would say the fey is most likely with the force attacking our forces in the east," the military commander answered, "it is the most of the magical activity and the most Pendragon's forces. While both attacks, east and north seem to be headed toward here, the northern force seems to be taking deliberate measures to insure that we can not envelop them."

"Which would mean they're wanting to make sure they can run," Two commented.

"Which means that section must include the Maza woman," the military commander finished, "the weaker of Pendragon's magical tools. Which means the real attack is in the east. And that means the real attack is in the east."

Two then nodded, acknowledging his military commander's reasoning.

"Keep our focus on the attack from the east," Two ordered.

Meanwhile, on the eastern section of the fighting, Reginald grouped Arthur's forces into a singular position around the section of trenches they had taken in the initial charge.

"We can not stay here," Julia said to him, "They're bound to be regrouping and they may soon figure out that Coyote's little decoys are not the real Arthur and Merlin."

"I know," Reginald nodded and glanced out the back of the trench and sniped off a lone Illuminati soldier running for cover between their position and the second line of trenches, "Once your sister and Lancelot have all of the weaponry that they lost in the initial charge gathered up, we'll move along the trench in a southward direction. See if we can draw the Illuminati forces way from not only this area but the monument as well..."

"As in to flee south once they counter attack in force?" Griff asked.

"Yes," Reginald nodded in agreement, "and with their own weapons to supply us for now, we'll have enough armament to hold out for while... or at least to make a fighting retreat until we can get a place where you all can get airborne again."

"I can easily get the airborne again if need be," Coyote spoke as he and Octavia approached.

A large bundle of rifles, grenades, one light machinegun and ammunition for it hovered behind Coyote. All of it was there to give them the ordinance needed to put up a tough fight.

"We're ready to go," Coyote announced.

"Can you keep your fog and our decoy Arthur and Merlin going?" Reginald asked.

"Yes, though only barely," Coyote answered.

"Okay then," Reginald nodded, "We strike toward the machinegun bunker in that direction. I'll take point."

The others nodded and followed him. Griff and Julia were right behind him while Octavia moved him and Coyote remained in the middle of the formation with Lancelot bringing up the rear. The Avalon gargoyle found it strange wielding a human firearm, but Reginald had stated that in the present situation it would be more practical then using fists or even bladed weapons. The fight was a modern style of fight, which required modern style weaponry. Still, when Lancelot fired it, it was back the way they had came and more to keep the heads of other Illuminati soldiers down rather then to actually hit one of them. He might have gotten one or two, but he wasn't all that sure.

Moving along their flanks and actually outside of the trenches were the decoy Arthur and Merlin. Made of dirt and given the image of Arthur in full armor and Merlin in outfit that was mixed commando gear with a sweat suit, they were intended to make it look like Arthur and Merlin were with them, and thus to draw the Illuminati's focus toward them. They moved along outside the trenches and made occasional gestures like they were leading an attack. The fog that Coyote had brought in obscured the Illuminati soldier's sight enough that while they fired on the decoys, the shots went wide and missed even them as well as the group advancing through the trench.

This poor marksmanship had another advantage that Reginald was not about to question. If the Illuminati was going to waste ammunition on decoys, that would make it easier for them. If they could hold out long enough, they might get the Illuminati to use up all their ammunition which would give the gargoyles and Rachel, who was with Arthur's group, the advantage against the Illuminati troops.

The 'bunker' wasn't much more then a series of sandbags put together, and as they attacked toward it, Reginald readied a grenade and tossed it in. It went off before they arrived and sent a couple of Illuminati soldiers fleeing into the no-man's-land between the first and second line of trenches. Once there, Reginald again halted to confiscate weapons and ammunition from the dead Illuminati soldiers in the 'bunker'. Things were going good, but one could never have enough ammunition.

On the northern section of the line, Arthur's group made a more direct march toward the Stonehenge monument. The attack had not produced as many casualties as Reginald's decoy attack in the east, and it had proceeded in a way that would prevent the Illuminati forces from surrounding them and trapping them in a cauldron battle. But it largely moved in a line directly toward the town and the monument beyond. The advance was largely made possible by Beth and the Avalon stone in her possession.

The stone carried some magic with it and allowed Beth to cast some amount of magic. Beth had so far used it to raise a thick maze of rose hedges. They were about ten felt tall and so thick that it would take about ten minutes for Arthur to hack through them with Excalibur. This also insured that they couldn't be shot at from the sides, and as they advanced, Merlin had seen that the rose hedges had even grown up to engulf Illuminati soldiers in them.

"You're doing very well," Merlin said to Beth as they moved along, "the maze is compartmentalizing their forces into smaller groups."

"Thanks," Beth said nervously, "I don't want to do anything poorly."

"You aren't," Merlin assured her and fired one of the electric blasters borrowed from Macbeth at a lone Illuminati soldier in the way.

They did run into an Illuminati soldier or so along the way, but that was largely where the hedges that Beth's spell had grown had come into effect. The hedges had created a maze that made it tough for the Illuminati soldiers to even carry out their most basic orders. They were caught off guard and found themselves lost in the maze. Arthur's group occasionally taken the wrong path in the maze as well, but they knew they were in the maze and merely followed which path they thought was right. In doing so they came across lone or small groups of Illuminati soldiers that were lost in the maze.

These soldiers found themselves being blasted at by the borrowed electric blasters that Arthur and Merlin wielded. Those that didn't were rushed by Rachael, in her wolf form. The soldiers did not seem to be using silver rounds, and the female werewolf was able to attack the Illuminati soldiers without fear. Rachael's main issue was making sure none of the Illuminati soldiers were scratched by her claws as she dealt with them. The last thing she wanted to was create more werewolves.

"Best to make sure they don't keep any equipment," Arthur commented as he began to frisk the Illuminati soldier that Merlin had blasted.

The soldier was out cold, and that allowed Arthur to remove weapons, ammunition, and any and all communications devices off of the man. The overall plan was for Griff and Reginald to act as a decoy force while Arthur, Beth, Rachael, and Merlin sneaked into the monument area to restore Merlin's powers. That largely meant that no one could know that Arthur and Merlin were in the group coming down from the north. That left two options, killing the Illuminati soldiers they came across or simply making sure that they only way they could communicate was by direct conversation.

They'd chosen the second option. Without radios, and not knowing the maze, it would take quite awhile for the Illuminati soldiers to get Two or to anyone they could report to Two through. And that was assuming they revived from being knocked out quickly. If Arthur was lucky, they'd stay out cold for several hours. Doing this also came as a relief to Rachael, though for different reasons.

It was true that she didn't want to spread her condition around, particularly to Illuminati soldiers who she thought would abuse it. As the werewolf that had bit her had done. He concerns and worries had to do with what the Weird Sisters had told her on Avalon. Their warning, their prophecy had seemed to indicate that she might be faced with a decision that she didn't want to make. She had come to grips with her lycanthropy, and maybe even accepted it. But the Weird Sisters had indicated that she might have to actually kill someone. She had the power to do so, after all, werewolves had carried a stigma of being cannibalistic monsters, almost as much as people called gargoyles 'demons'. Rachael didn't want to have to end up doing something she still associated with a stereotypical movie werewolf.

"We're approaching the town itself," Arthur spoke from his position near the front of the line, "Only a little further to go!"

**London**

Meanwhile the other battle against Illuminati forces was beginning to grow hotter. The colonel that taken over the command from the fallen Illuminati general was managing to coordinate some resemblance of a counterattack, but even with forces being thrown into the counter attack against Macbeth, there was still a great amount of confusion. The forces that had sallied forth from the main Illuminati headquarters had been utterly defeated by Macbeth's forces, which were using buildings, alleys, and some hasty barricades to their advantage. If Macbeth and his rebels attacked forward in force, they would overrun the Illuminati lines and take main headquarters. The colonel had no idea why Macbeth hadn't done so. The capture of the headquarters would decapitate the Illuminati army even further, as they didn't have the time to remove the communications equipment or the other things that were needed to coordinate the Illuminati army.

"He must not know how weak we are in front of him," the colonel mused to himself in a more central portion of the headquarters area and then turned to a nearby communications officer, "Anything from Two?"

"No, sir."

"Blast," the colonel grumbled.

He needed some advice from on high on what to do. Or permanently pick a new commanding officer. But Two wasn't answering his reports, and that left him to improvise. He had called in the units from the bases that guarded the approaches to London and thrown them at Macbeth's rebels, but even that attack seemed lost. They were driving the rebels back in places, but they were being attacked by gargoyles and mutates from the air, and a few of them had armed themselves with weaponry they had looted from fallen Illuminati soldiers. And in the darkness of the night, and the fact that neither gargoyle nor mutate needed an engine to fly, they somehow always had some surprise.

Against the rest of the rebels, the attacks weren't doing that much better. They fired from inside buildings, behind barricades, from alleys, from rooftops, and from other areas where they wouldn't be in the open. Clearing these took time as they all seemed to fight a lot harder then the Illuminati had even expected them to.

"Where are their strong points?" the colonel wondered.

"Their lines go in a loose circle hear in the city," a lieutenant reported, "Mostly low rent neighborhoods and a few small parks here and there, nothing real important... but because just about building has a fair amount of rock and concrete which would require a large number of heavy weapons to break... or at least that's what I learned in the academy."

"Can we bypass them?" the colonel wondered as he looked at the map that he was being shown.

"Not without exposing large numbers of troops to their fire," a captain who had carried some of the field reports in, "they've armed themselves with the best that we brought in and are well enough off that they could destroy us if we do something foolish."

"Do we have any tanks?" the colonel wondered.

"We have nothing larger then light armored personnel carriers," the captain reported, "which won't stand up to the anti-tank rockets they've collected.

"Blast," the colonel growled.

"The fortunate thing is that they are surrounded and largely poorly trained," the captain reported, "provided they don't get help... we should be able to mop up their entire positions. They are, after all surrounded."

Catherine Silver meanwhile was 'directing' things from the southern area of the London battle area. The Illuminati had some semblance of control, even if the man now commanded the Illuminati was ill equipped for the job. The rebels did not, and for the most part were dependent on the gargoyles and mutates giving them some cover from above. And this they did, but it still made things tough.

"Catherine!" a rebel fighter came in to the area where Catherine and several others were firing at the advancing Illuminati soldiers from the windows of the building.

"What is it?!" Catherine Silver hollered back, "we don't have time to chat!"

"They're training a light artillery on us!" the man reported, "brought it up to the door and started blasting away at it!"

"Macbeth's otherworldly allies?" Catherine Silver grumbled back.

"A winged cat person took it out with a few zaps... but we're still having to pull back!" the man answered.

She uttered a few choice curses under her breath. The portion of London that Macbeth had chosen to fight in was a poor area of the city and normally depended on street lights to keep gangs of thugs from beating up everyone. But, with the light poles deliberately destroyed, much of what they had to aim at was the muzzle flashes of the guns in front of them. There was some natural light from things like the moon or from light posts that were beyond where the rebels had set up their positions, which helped, but not much.

This gave them few advantages that they could use. One was that it enabled them to ambush Illuminati infantry as they advanced forward, and the other was that it enabled the gargoyles and mutates the ability to strike at the Illuminati men with little fear of taking direct fire. But without heavy weapons, training, or experienced snipers, the Illuminati still had some distinct advantages. Namely in heavy weapons, experienced snipers, and in training. To Catherine Silver, the battle was rapidly beginning to become a fight they couldn't win.

"First get to Macbeth... tell him to get his gargoyles to look for cannon and other heavy weapons the Illuminati might be using," Catherine Silver ordered, "then send one man... ONE MAN ONLY back into the tunnels. We may need to go underground to get away from them."

Catherine wasn't about to commit a bunch of ragtag rebels to fight trained troops in a battle to the death, no matter how much Macbeth seemed to push for it. Dying was not on Catherine Silver's agenda and she had no intention of fighting a battle she couldn't win.

**Stonehenge**

Two gave a startled jump as he saw a series of rose hedges grow suddenly right up to where he and his commander were supervising the battle against the forces he believed Arthur was leading. They had done quite a lot of damage to the outer line of defenses, but they were being forced to retreat slowly toward the south. He continued to get a handful of scattered reports on the rose hedges that were growing up on the plane to the north of the monument, but he still believed that it was an attempt to distract him. Trying to draw attention away from where the main effort was. The fact that the hedges would come right up to where he was surprised him.

"So the decoy's have a suicide wish," Two commented and motioned to his military commander and a couple of guards that were nearby, "Go take care of them. I'll stay here to monitor our progress against Arthur."

Arthur, meanwhile, was leading his group through the maze of rose hedges that Beth's spell had created. It had done exactly as they had thought it would. Illuminati soldiers were lost and cut off from the rest of their units. When they ran into them they were in small enough groups that they could be overpowered. As they had advanced, they'd crossed at least three different lines of trenches, which Arthur guessed ran in circles around the monument. Which made it impossible for a direct attack to have succeeded.

Arthur hoped Reginald and Griff's team were doing all right and weren't caught anywhere by the Illuminati soldiers. But he couldn't spend time worrying over them now. They had Coyote with them, and if things looked totally bad, he would certainly teleport them away. At least he hoped that would be that case.

"This last repetition of the spell should take you right up to the monument," Beth spoke from where she was next to Merlin.

"Right up to the monument?" Arthur asked, to which Beth nodded.

"Right where we need to be," Merlin added.

"Two will likely be there and he will likely be well guarded," Rachael commented, "he isn't going to let us simply waltz in and restore Merlin's powers."

"But won't he be closer to where he thinks the real attack is?" Beth wondered.

"Possible," Arthur sighed, "but Rachael is right. It is unlikely that he's left the monument unguarded. He knows that it is the monument that we are looking to get to. He'll leave someone there in case we do something like this... or if he thinks we might either slip through the lines near where the main battle is or if Reginald's group should win."

"A good think all the weapons emplacements in the trenches face outward then," Merlin commented, "You and Rachael can secure the monument long enough for Beth to cast the spell to restore my powers."

Arthur nodded but glanced back to his old mentor, "Yes... though it may be best for you and Beth to remain back here. They haven't been using silver rounds, which means they can't kill Rachael and I am well armed enough to give them a good battle..."

Merlin and Beth both nodded.

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked to Rachael as he readied Excalibur and one of Macbeth's electric blasters.

Rachael stretched out her arms and gave a nod, "about as ready as I can be... be careful, Arthur."

Arthur heard a glint of concern in her voice but ignored that for the moment, "I intend to."

Further to the south and east, Reginald 's team proceeded to move away from the Stonehenge monument and the defenses the Illuminati had constructed around it. Coyote's fog and decoy Arthur and Merlin still kept most of the Illuminati's fire away from them. But Reginald couldn't say how long that would last. Shortly after overrunning the last machinegun nest that the Illuminati had constructed they mounted a massive attack from all directions.

That counter-attack finally forced Reginald to begin what was now a running fight. They had to get far away from the Illuminati's trenches so as to insure they wouldn't be taking a lot direct fire. He crossed a road and quickly ducked down into the ditch on the other side of it.

"Do you think we've drawn them far enough away?" Reginald asked to Coyote who was still with him.

"Probably," Coyote answered and fired a few shots into the darkness of the night and the fog, "we've certainly got their attention. Though, since the fog's gotten weaker... their fire is a bit more accurate."

"You had to get Griff and the others into the air," Reginald answered, "they can strafe them from above or even carry them off... and if we buy it... they can get away."

Almost as if on cue, Griff came down and landed beside them and then hunkered down, using the road as cover.

"Their advance is pretty slow and cautious," Griff reported, "They've fired on us, but it hasn't been inaccurate."

Coyote glanced back and then gasped.

"Not quite," Coyote gave a sigh.

Griff raised one browridge and then glanced back to his wings and there he discovered what Coyote was referring to. Someone had shot up the feathered membrane on his left wing a bit. At the time it happened, he hadn't noticed it.

"It's nothing," Griff shrugged, "a flesh wound, that's all."

"Maybe, but it's still a sign that we're getting closer to buying it," Reginald sighed, sounding reserved to that fate.

"We don't have to 'buy it' as you put it," Coyote commented.

"How?" Reginald commented, "we've given them heavy casualties, but we don't have the men to beat them."

"Yes, but our mission is a distraction," Coyote answered, "and we still have the decoys."

Reginald looked up to decoy Arthur and Merlin still standing on top of the road and directing things like it was some Medieval battle. It probably created the sort of image that the Illuminati likely thought Arthur would fight. Standing out in the open like some brilliant target to do battle at close range, when the modern army did its best to avoid being seen and blast at someone from long range.

"We give them our guns and let them fire away into the fog," Coyote explained, "if they're advancing cautiously, they'll likely stop to lob grenades, allowing us to get further away..."

"And with 'Arthur' and 'Merlin' dead they might ease off on their pursuit," Griff commented, "and even if they go back... they might slow down... relax. Giving the real Arthur and Merlin more time."

"It might," Reginald sighed, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it."

"Griff, you let the others know we're getting ready to pull back again," Coyote said to the griffon-like gargoyle and summoned a gust of wind that was strong enough to get Griff back into the air.

Again it cleared a bit of the fog, but now that even helped with their plan.

Back at the monument, Two stood near the main communications equipment that had been set up. The men he had sent into the rose hedges hadn't returned yet, though from what he could see, it looked a bit like a maze. His best guess was that his men were still trying to find whichever member of Arthur's little band was launching this faint. More then likely it was the Maza female acting under some instruction from Merlin.

He was partially surprised by the woman's participation in Arthur's plan. The Illuminati had come to regard Elisa Maza as a potential sign of trouble for them, but that was mostly because of her association with Bluestone and her more 'warrior-like' persona. They knew that Elisa Maza would respond with the force required to restrain an opponent that was doing some wrong, and that was all before the Mage turned her into a gargoyle. The eldest Maza sibling was the one that the Illuminati had figured would be one who help someone like Arthur.

The last person they thought would engage in this was the youngest sibling. The middle child, Derek, might be capable of interfering, but the Illuminati didn't know much about him. Beyond the fact that he was a mutate and was living in seclusion underneath New York City, they didn't know enough to make a final judgment on him. But they'd never expected Beth Maza to engage in this sort of thing... and the fact that she knew magic was another surprise. Two intended to question her thoroughly when she was captured... and from there, she might be a good enough hostage to get her elder siblings to influence Xanatos to come back into the Illuminati's fold without question.

His thoughts were paused when he heard the radio buzz to life near him. He quickly answered it.

"Report," Two commanded.

"Arthur is dead! Both him and Merlin!" came the report from the other end.

"What?" Two gasped.

"Arthur and Merlin are dead!" the report repeated, "we were drivin' the others off, and they were trying to urge them on from the top of a road. We nailed them with a couple of grenades."

"Can you identify the bodies?" Two questioned.

"The fog cleared a bit when we saw them, and we're sure they're down," the soldier answered back, "their men are running though... so are their gargoyles!"

"Make sure you take them prisoner," Two commanded, "the last thing we want is for them to regroup."

Meanwhile, the REAL Arthur Pendragon, with Rachael moving with him continued to move along the main part of the maze of rose hedges that Beth had created to move toward the monument. They hadn't run into the men that Two had sent to catch them, but they were close enough for Rachael to hear Two's glee at the reported death of 'Arthur' and 'Merlin'.

"He thinks you're dead," Rachael said to Arthur as they moved forward.

"Coyote must created some sort of decoy," Arthur commented, "as I do not feel dead."

Rachael gave a chuckle and nodded as they round a corner to find all of the men that Two had sent into the maze.

"Give us a minute, and you will feel dead!" the military commander shouted in response.

The fighting that broke out was rapid and practically spontaneous. Rachael lunged forward and gripped the barrels of two of the accompanying soldiers weapons and then yanked the weapons out of their hands. Arthur fired his electric blaster at the military commander. The shot knocked him out and served to distract the other soldiers that Rachael hadn't disarmed. That allowed Rachael to grab two by the tops of the heads and slam them together. Those that they'd engaged soon fell unconscious at their feet.

The last man managed one wild shot, but as he was trying to shoot around his comrades, he didn't do much more then fire a round into the rose hedges behind Arthur. Arthur's response was a long upward swing of Excalibur which cleanly cut the barrel off of the soldier's gun. He gave one startled yelp and then began to flee. He didn't get far before Rachael knocked him out.

"Well, that takes care of them," Rachael commented, "all out cold."

"They must be the men protecting Two," Arthur commented.

Rachael nodded, "Hopefully we can subdue him quickly."

"I doubt dealing with him will be a quick affair," Arthur commented, "he already knows he's being attacked and has been in heavy hatred of myself and Merlin. When he realizes that Reginald and Griff's attack was a diversion... he'll likely give us the best he can unleash on us."

Rachael only gave a half nervous sigh to that. She remembered the warning she had received from the Weird Sisters on what sort of choices she would have to make in the coming struggle. That she would have to kill someone... or at least something close to that. She didn't want to have to make that decision, but was fearful that she might have to. She was not one to consider even fighting before she'd been bitten, and in the process of being with Arthur while coping with her lycanthropy, she had found herself taking on the roles of a fighter and warrior. The sort of guardian that werewolves had originally been created to be. But killing someone was still something she didn't want to have to do, and at that moment, she didn't know if she even had it in her to kill someone.

"Come on," Arthur urged.

"Do you think that Beth might be able to give some magical help?" Rachael wondered, looking for someway that might allow them to more easily subdue the Illuminati Councilmember.

"In theory, yes," Arthur sighed, "but she's still too much of a novice when it comes to magic to be able to fight someone with Two's experience. We are largely on our own."

Rachael slowly nodded and followed him. They made their way along the maze of hedges until they came to the end and the great stones of the Stonehenge monument became visible. Peaking around a corner, Arthur found Two focused on a radio that was near him, likely relaying orders to the soldiers under his command.

"Alright, I'll go first," Arthur spoke, "I'll blast his radio and hopefully that will put him under enough shock that we can get close. You follow along behind to knock him out."

Two heard some of the sounds of the battle where his men had just fought with the real Arthur and Rachael, but he paid little attention to it. As far as he knew, Arthur and Merlin were dead. All that was left was mopping up their victory. Capturing the gargoyles and the youngest Maza sibling. And that was what Two had assumed the fire from the rose hedge maze was. Putting down the werewolf that never should have been 'made' and forcing Beth Maza to surrender. That left him to continue to relay instructions to the other forces under his command in the pursuit of the rest of Arthur's forces.

Unfortunately, his assumptions were wrong when there was a sudden blast of electricity that was fired from somewhere near him. It hit the radio, which then exploded because of the resulting power surge. The explosion disoriented Two slightly and sent him staggering back. Some of the shrapnel scratched him up a bit, but he managed to shrug that off and turned to face his attacker.

Her turned to find none other then Arthur Pendragon rushing at him. He managed to duck under a slash at him that Arthur made with Excalibur, noticing that Arthur was using the broad edge of the sword, going for a knockout blow rather then a killing one.

"How can this be!... You're dead!" he blurted, surprised by Arthur's appearance.

"That was a decoy Coyote likely created," Arthur commented and fired his electric blaster at Two, but missing, "to draw your forces away from here while we sneaked closer."

"You..." Two gasped, "You didn't take the direct approach..."

"I don't have the manpower for that," Arthur commented, "and you should also know just WHO Coyote is."

Two was silent for a moment when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and put into a wrestling hold to restrain him by Rachael. He could hear her giving a few growling breaths as if to get him to surrender. But the Illuminati did have records of Rachael Winters' activities in wolf form. She went out of her way to make sure she didn't use her teeth or claws.

"An American Southwestern Trickster Fey... not exactly the chivalrous thing you're known for," Two commented, relaxing for the moment.

"True," Arthur nodded calmly, "if this were done the way I would have done long ago, you and I would square off in a fair duel. Sword and shield, no magic, winner take all. Or if you insist on magic, you would have a fair duel with Merlin at the peak of his powers. Not deceiving him to strip him of his powers."

Arthur slowly approached him, "but then, the world has changed much since I went to sleep. Had we have made such a deal, would you have honored it?"

Two's answer was to use his arms to support himself against Rachael and deliver a two footed kick against Arthur. The blow caught him by surprise and knocked him back, dropping the electric blaster. He then quickly positioned his hands so that the palms were facing Rachael, which given how she had grabbed him, meant that his hands were now actively touching something Rachael didn't want him touching.

"HEY!" Rachael began before Two cast a lighting spell backward and at full power.

The force of the shock sent Rachael flying and tumbling backward until she hit the side wall of one of the rose hedges. Caught on the thorns, she was then struggling to free herself. Two meanwhile turned to Arthur as his spell had made Rachael release him.

"All too easy," Two smiled and then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Arthur as he advanced on him.

What Two threw turned out to be seeds. They hit the ground at Arthur's feet and he was suddenly engulfed in thick vine like plants that wrapped around his body, his arms and legs, and pulled Excalibur from his grasp. The plant then handed the weapon to Two.

"Amazing," Two mused, "to think such a powerful weapon ended up in the hands of a weakling like you."

"The Illuminati didn't forge it!" Arthur challenged, "I was able to pull Excalibur from the stone because it judged me worthy of wielding it."

"Too bad there is no Stone of Destiny to keep it safe for you now," Two mused again, "and now it is in the hands of one who knows how to use power. No Mordred or Morgan Le Fey to challenge the Illuminati."

"Except for I and the war in China," Arthur countered.

"Maybe, but you are all gnats before the Illuminati to be swatted," Two answered, "just as you will be swatted now."

Two then approached the helpless Arthur.

"The Mage was the only one who could truly lead this world," Two spoke, "the only one enlightened enough to lead it to true glory. It's what the Illuminati were created for."

"The Mage is dead," Arthur answered.

"But for how long?" Two replied, "you were dead not that long ago. Your friend Macbeth dies all the time, yet he always comes back. The Mage was the greatest single magician to ever exist and so long as specific conditions are met, his magic will bring him back, and hopefully to a world that recognizes his power and glory."

"You're insane," Arthur charged, "a dishonorable villain."

"Au contraire," Two replied, "I am quite sane, and while it doesn't look like it now, what I do is for the betterment of this world... though it is ironic... the man who is the legendary wielder of Excalibur... felled by his own weapon. You will fall by it, and then I will behead your werewolf girlfriend with it..."

"Haven't you done enough to her?!" Arthur challenged him.

"Because she's helping you... most certainly not," Two shrugged, "and besides, she never should have been bitten in the first place."

Rachael struggled heavily to pull herself free of the rose hedges. Despite the magic that allowed the material to expand and contract with her when she shifted forms, the outfit that she'd been given to wear was badly torn.

"Stupid thorns," Rachael grumbled, and then heard the conversation between Arthur and Two, "Arthur..."

She rushed up toward the monument where she found Arthur trapped in some sort of vine plant that was consciously holding the 'Once and Future King' and keeping him from fighting. Two was entirely focused on Arthur and was readying the deliver the deathblow on him with Arthur's own weapon.

"Goodbye, Arthur Pendragon," Two snarled, "You are no longer needed! Never were!"

Rachael knew she couldn't let him die. Arthur had been there to help her. Both him and Merlin. He was a good and honest man, and she'd been becoming attracted to him more and more as they had spent time together. She hadn't fully accepted it, but she had. And she couldn't picture her life without Arthur. And now, Two was preparing to kill him. With that she knew what she had to do. She had to save him.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Rachael let out a howl as she lunged forward as Two prepared to bring Excalibur down on Arthur's head.

He turned to see her jaws open and clawed fingers pointed at him. Rachael's left hand hit first, its claws sinking into Two's shoulder while her right hand grabbed the arm that held Excalibur, shaking that arm and getting Two to release the sword. And as Rachael's last leap ended, she clamped her jaws around Two's neck and bit down hard. In a few moments, Two was dead.

Rachael stood up slowly and looked down at his body, knowing what she'd done. She could feel blood on the fur of her muzzle. It made her shudder a bit, as the realization hit in, but on some level, she knew she had to. If she hadn't, Arthur would have died and Merlin would be doomed. And it wasn't as if there was a non-lethal attack that could have worked. She'd tried to restrain him at first, and that left her with electrical burns on her chest and torso.

"Sorry," Rachael said weakly as she began to tear the vines off of Arthur.

"It's not your fault," Arthur sighed, "and it's entirely likely that something like this would have happened anyway."

"He was about to kill you," Rachael spoke.

Arthur nodded.

"I told you to be careful!" Rachael found herself scolding.

"What?" Arthur wondered as he looked up.

Rachael then sighed as she realized that she'd exposed herself, in more ways then one with that remark.

"You're more then just a friend to me," Rachael slowly sighed, "You've accepted me... despite all that has happened."

"Just because you are werewolf doesn't mean that you're a monster," Arthur answered as he sheathed Excalibur.

"Yes... but other then you and your allies, and your friends... who else would?" Rachael asked back.

"I'm sure there are others who would if you played your cards right," Arthur said in a manner like he was trying to sound soothing and careful, "but it is a good to have someone as caring as you by my side."

Arthur took Rachael's hand in his and then rubbed the back of it gently. She felt her heart fluttering, and wondered if Arthur was attracted to her in return.

"We should get Merlin and Beth," Arthur said with a sigh, "the Illuminati may catch on... we can sort this out later."

"Of course," Rachael said slowly and moved to follow Arthur as he headed back to the rose hedges.

Beth and Merlin waited quietly in the rose hedge maze where they wouldn't be exposed to any of the fighting that was going. They managed to hear much of it. The gun shots, the sound of the electric blaster, and Rachael's howl. A lot of that left Beth feeling rather nervous.

"Don't worry," Merlin told her, "they'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Beth wondered, "I tend not to worry about the things that Elisa goes through... but I know she's backed up by the whole clan and that she's used to all of this sort of thing... and the fact that I'm usually several states away and there is absolutely nothing I can do."

"Because I know Arthur," Merlin answered, "he is the bravest man I've ever known, and I know his skill and bravery... and I also know that he is a smart man. There may be many things about the modern world that he may not fully know... but he is very smart and very willing and even eager to learn. For that, I feel extremely confident in Arthur's abilities."

"What about Rachael?" Beth wondered.

"So long as they don't use silver, the Illuminati can not kill her," Merlin said simply.

Beth silently listened to the fighting that they could hear. It all sounded fierce and deadly. It scared a part of her and made her wonder how her father and older sister dealt with the danger they dealt with as police officers and how Elisa dealt with these things after becoming a gargoyle. After awhile, however, the sounds of the fight died down.

"And things go silent," Beth commented. Things weren't totally quiet, but the sounds of fighting were much farther away then where Arthur and Rachael were, "Who do you think won?"

"We'll find out in a moment or two," Merlin commented.

They waited for a little longer until it was Rachael who came back to them. Beth noticed blood stains on her muzzle and on one hand. Much of her wolf form's 'uniform' was torn and in tatters, and Beth also noticed what looked like electrical burns on Rachael's chest and torso.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked.

"I'm okay," Rachael nodded, "this... this isn't mine."

"You bit someone?" Merlin asked.

"Two... and... and he won't be around to transform next full moon," Rachael said slowly.

"You killed him," Merlin stated.

"I had to," Rachael said weakly, "I didn't want to, but I had to. Knocking him out or restraining in him wasn't working... he 'zapped' me for that... and... and... and he was about to kill Arthur. I had to kill him."

Beth noticed Rachael's unease with it and sighed.

"It's okay," Beth spoke, "You've all said that this guy was bad right...?" Merlin and Rachael nodded. "Well, because of that, and if he had made impossible to subdue him in a non-lethal manner... and you had to do it... it's understandable. Both my sister and my dad have told stories about instances where they've been confronted by a violent criminal and were forced to kill that criminal... it happens."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Rachael replied.

"I'm sure," Beth sighed, "I'm afraid I can't help you all that much. If we can ever get contact with my dad and my sister, I'm sure they can help you."

"Thanks, I might give them a call when we can," Rachael nodded.

"How are things at the monument?" Merlin asked, trying to change the topic of discussion.

"The monument should be secure," Rachael sighed, "They think you and Arthur are dead and are chasing Griff's group."

"Then we'd best get going," Merlin commented, "the sooner we can finish this, the sooner we can leave."

"Right," Rachael nodded.

Merlin then began to follow Rachael. Beth brought up the rear.

"What about the burn wounds on you?" Beth asked to Rachael, "they look like they hurt."

"They'll heal," Rachael sighed, "Two didn't keep the current flowing long enough for it to kill me. I'll be fine. Don't worry."

Beth nodded as they continued along the way.

"Okay, now Beth, you remember the wording you're supposed to use?" Merlin asked.

"The word 'restore' in Latin as I toss this bag of magic sand at you," Beth answered, remembering the instructions that Merlin had given her on the drive to the Salisbury plain.

Merlin nodded. They continued on quietly toward the end of the rose hedge maze until the great pillars of Stonehenge became visible. There was still some signs of battle to be heard, but they were all still well to the south and east of their position. Arthur was guarding the entrance to the rose hedge maze as they reached it.

"Things are still quiet," Arthur reported, "I've removed Two's body... just in case his magic interferes with the restoration spell."

"Thank you, Arthur," Merlin nodded and began to lead Beth toward the monument.

Beth followed along quietly, clutching at the 'Avalon stone' with one hand. That stone was the only way she had been able to cast magic. According to Coyote, stones like the ones she carried had an inordinate amount of magic in them, and the first Fey had probably been nothing more then human sorcerers who had found the stones that would become part of Avalon, and they somehow absorbed the stone's magic directly to become the Third Race. It seemed silly to Beth as nothing more the superstition... but then, a lot of human superstitions commonly revolved around fey activity.

Coyote protecting her family and 'guiding' the Navajo people. Anansi creating the werepanther curse in Nigeria. And a whole host of myths and legends that Elisa and Goliath had told her about on the few times she'd spoken with them on the phone. And then there was Merlin's explanation that Stonehenge was created as a sort of magnet for fey powers during the First Unseelie War. The fact that Merlin had lost his own powers had confirmed that to her.

That meant that some of Coyote's legends on the fey's origins could be true. But even if they weren't, the stone was somehow holding and controlling magic, the way Coyote had said most mortal talismans did. And so she nervously clutched at it. It seemed to almost vibrate with some sort of power that made her body tingle a little bit, but that was probably more due to walking around at night.

They slowly approached the area where Merlin had told her the spell to restore his powers was to be cast.

"Are you ready?" Merlin asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Beth sighed as she clutched at the 'Avalon stone' harder.

"Relax a bit," Merlin instructed, "the powder will do most of the work, magic wise. You don't have to channel it through the stone."

Beth nodded.

"Now, let's try the word out, remember, 'restore' in Latin," Merlin urged her.

"Renovo!" Beth spoke, hoping she'd got it right.

Merlin gave her one last pointer on the pronunciation and then gave her a brief smile, "Okay... go ahead."

Beth sighed nervously and opened the pouch that held the sand that was prescribed for the event. Still clutching the Avalon stone, she then tossed the sand toward Merlin and spoke the imperative command of the Latin verb. As she did so, the stones of Stonehenge seemed almost to glow, as did the Avalon stone she had, though Beth didn't notice it and as the sand hit Merlin, there was a great flash of light that blinded her for a moment and made her numb to the increased tingling in her own form. Both quickly faded after a moment or two and Beth was there looking to Merlin.

He actually looked a lot healthier and better then he had before, even though he didn't look bad before.

"Did it work?" Beth asked.

"I believe so," Merlin commented as he conjured the image of a small falcon in a sort of soft blue light.

The falcon flew around Beth and then returned to Merlin, seemingly vanishing up his sleeve.

"So you're back..." Beth spoke.

"Yes," Merlin answered, "I am as I always was again. Now there is only Britain's future and getting you and Coyote back to the United States to do."

**To Be Continued...**


	35. Once And Future King: Retreat

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Once And Future King: Restoration".

Once And Future King: Retreat

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Scapa Flow**

The fighting around Stonehenge and London were not missed elsewhere in the Illuminati's battle to directly take control of the British Isles. They couldn't move whole units away from the main battle lines and have it not be noticed. It was late, but many of the men trying to save the UK from the Illuminati in an official capacity were now picking up on some of these actions.

"A rebellion?" one lieutenant on monitoring duty gasped.

"In London, yes," another answered, "in just came through the spy satellites the Americans are letting us use. A big fight in London."

"Can they tell what these rebels attacked?" the first inquired.

"Other than the area the Illuminati has largely taken as a Headquarters? No," the second sighed, "but that might mean that whoever they're attacking must be important to them."

The first lieutenant nodded and then looked back to the images he was getting. He sighed for a moment and then sighed.

"We may need to get the generals up," he spoke after a moment, "because on the ones I've been looking at, have also indicating that they have practically a full division… maybe MORE around Stonehenge."

"Stonehenge!" the second gasped, "what could they be doing there? Is there another rebellion there?"

"I don't know," the first answered, "all I've seen is the transfer of troops."

"Do you know where they came from?" the second asked.

"Most were pulled out of Northern Ireland," the first answered, "the generals are already considering mounting something of a counter-attack there. Especially if this rumor of a wild man running around and knocking out Illuminati soldiers in the Ulster region are true."

"Can we prove that?" the second pondered aloud.

"That I don't know," the first replied, "all we've gotten are the few stories from prisoners that we've managed to take and shuffle back here. Nothing more than that. All the same, the rumors are there, and they did remove men from their lines in Northern Ireland."

"I'll get the generals then," the second lieutenant sighed, "you get a report ready. They'll want a full explanation for why they're being woken up in the middle of the night."

**London**

Shots rang out through the night as the ragtag group of rebels under Catherine Silver and a good portion of the London Clan and Macbeth resisted the efforts of the Illuminati to try and catch them and destroy them for good. The battle had begun with an assassination of the general in command of all the Illuminati forces. The plan had been for that act to draw Illuminati defenses away from Stonehenge and give Arthur and Merlin an easier shot at getting to the monument. They didn't know about the extra units that the Illuminati had gathered there, allowing the units around London to focus solely on London. But, even if they did know that, knowledge of their success would create other 'good' things for their side.

By forcing the Illuminati to fight a major engagement in the areas they felt were already secure, they wouldn't be able to focus on the main war effort further north. And considering that for the moment, the people taking the main Illuminati general's place were junior officers with little major command experience, they might make some great mistake against either Macbeth in London or against the British army in the north. To insure that that mistake was made, they would have to give a firm resistance, and not retreat from the Illuminati's counter-attacks against them. So far, they were doing fairly well, but that was mostly due to the fact that they were able to bottleneck the Illuminati in narrow streets, and the gargoyles and a few of the mutates that were participating were able to insure that the Illuminati couldn't indiscriminately fire heavy weapons at them.

And that was what Chloe was presently involved in doing. She would have preferred to remain close to Macbeth, to protect him, but he had told her that she would be needed to insure they didn't train any sort of cannon on the houses that the resistance was using as fire bases. Macbeth was somewhere below them, doing what he could to hold back any serious attacks on the ground.

"How is it going?" came Leo's voice as the lion-like gargoyle came toward her.

"Fairly well," Chloe answered, "they've only brought up one or two field guns here, so far."

Leo glanced down to the street he had seen Chloe dive on. There were two toppled anti-tank cannons that had been flipped upside down. They were similar to other small level artillery pieces that Leo remembered from World War Two, going through London on trucks or trains for the areas where the Allied armies were assembling for D-Day. Though the ones the Illuminati were using were a bit more advanced than the ones from the Second World War. They wouldn't do as much as a major artillery piece would, but against small scale fortifications and tanks, they would more than do the job.

"Best to also patrol out a ways," Leo advised, "go toward the areas they control. The more chaos we cause in their rear, the less trouble they can give the Illuminati troops assaulting them here."

"Don't you think they can hold?" Chloe wondered, "That they can win? Do you doubt Macbeth that much?"

"I do not doubt Macbeth's skill as a warrior or commander," Leo answered, "but the army he has isn't a trained army, and isn't made up entirely of gargoyles and mutates, and we've used up the heavy weapons that we'd stolen from the Illuminati base on the north side of London."

Chloe nodded remembering the anti-tank rockets they'd used to assassinate the Illuminati general and to slow down the initial Illuminati counter-attack. The only other thing they could possibly use was the armored personnel carrier that they had stolen from the same base, but that would have to wait until Arthur and Merlin and the others could return to London. And they'd likely be coming back into London with a large number of enemy troops on their tail as well.

"Churchill urged every Briton to fight against the Nazis when they invaded," Leo answered, "and I've seen some reports that indicate he had some special secret army ready should the Nazis have actually managed to cross the channel."

"But they didn't," Chloe replied.

"And a good thing they didn't," Leo answered, "Mostly thanks to Griff and the RAF… but still… if they invaded, their well-trained troops would have slaughtered the untrained volunteers that fought them."

Chloe only sighed.

"We need to insure that there is chaos in their rear," Leo answered.

"Okay then," Chloe answered and moved off in search of any other heavy weapons the Illuminati might be bringing to the area.

"Let's get out of here!" a man screamed in near panic as a section of a nearby wall was blown in by the detonation of an anti-tank rocket went off.

They had been manning a section on the northern edge of the line that the rebels against the Illuminati were holding when a soldier on the other side fired the rocket, blowing a large hole in the wall. From there, they began to rush the opening, and that panicked the two men manning that section of the rebel line on that floor.

"To where?" the second asked.

"To the house across the street," came Macbeth's voice from the doorway behind them.

"Only across the street?" the first said, still panicking as Macbeth hit the first Illuminati soldier attempted to rush in with a blast from one of his electric blasters.

"And slowly," Macbeth answered, "we need to buy time for those on the upper floors to withdraw to the next street. You run in panic and the battle is over and we lose. We must withdraw slowly, particularly when we're trying to buy time for Arthur."

The second fired off a couple more shots, getting the next Illuminati soldier that tried to rush in.

"Come on, to the next building, "he said to his panicked partner, and the hollered up a nearby flight of stairs, "come on guys! Time to withdraw to the next set of buildings."

"I'll hold the line here while you pull out," Macbeth assured them, and then toppled a large table over on its side.

The table would act as a sort of shield for him, and allowed Macbeth to fire more shots from his electric blaster from behind cover. His shots stunned two more Illuminati soldiers into unconsciousness, and those that were outside began to be a bit more cautious. He continued to hunker behind the desk when the fired in a few shots toward him. The table managed to deflect the shots, but that wouldn't go on forever. Eventually, he heard one of the rebels shout that they were out. Shortly after that, he heard a grenade hit the side of the table he'd tipped over.

Macbeth immediately pushed the table over and slit it toward the opening. Again, the table saved Macbeth's life. Its weight was enough to absorb the worst of the grenade's explosion. The worst of it was the smoke that came with it. The smoke obscured Macbeth's ability to look out, but it also obscured their ability to look in. The first Illuminati soldier rushed in blindly, and Macbeth was easily able to grab his rifle barrel and then knee the man in the gut. The blow knocked the wind out of the soldier and he released his grip on his rifle. Macbeth took it and then slammed the butt of the weapon down on the man's neck, knocking him out. He then quickly collected the man's belt and ammunition straps and then pulled out a grenade that the Illuminati soldier had been carrying. Macbeth then left the room quickly, and didn't pay attention to when the grenade went off behind him. Hopefully, the others were managing to maintain an organized retreat. They had to buy time.

**Scapa Flow**

"Alright, alright," a British admiral grumbled as he made his way into the room where the two lieutenants had been monitoring the images that they were getting from American spy satellites.

The acting Parliament had managed to convince the Americans to loan the satellites to them as a sort of allied agreement, and there was some speculation that they might have to repay the Americans in kind somewhere else at some later date. But for the moment, that wasn't the issue. The issue at the moment was the survival of the UK. The admiral and the couple of generals that had followed the admiral were there to save their country. They weren't about to let it fall to the Illuminati.

"Based on what we've been monitoring, sir," second of the two lieutenants began his report, "it would appear that the Illuminati are engaged in actions behind their lines that may be to our advantage."

"Something to our advantage?" one of the generals asked.

"Yes," the second lieutenant answered with a nod, "they've moved a division's worth of troops to the area around Stonehenge for some reason and there also appears to be a major fight in London."

"A major fight in London?" the admiral questioned.

"Yes, sir," the first lieutenant nodded, "based off of what we could see, a group of rebels has launched some sort of attack against the building in London we believe the Illuminati has been using as its headquarters. The Illuminati's main reserve force has since been committed to fighting this uprising."

"What of the men around Stonehenge?" another general asked.

"We haven't been able to see why they've moved men to Stonehenge," the second explained, "but since my duty partner went to get you, I've managed to monitor a little bit more… develop some of the images."

All eyes came to focus on the second lieutenant. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"A lot of this appears to have been obscured by fog, but I was able to make out rings of trenches and machine gun emplacements," the second lieutenant spoke, "they were evidently expecting an attack of some kind there…"

"Ludicrous thinking," the admiral grumbled, "we don't even know for sure what Stonehenge truly does for sure. And how it was built is still unknown."

"It may sound ludicrous, sir," the second lieutenant told him, "but based off of what I was able to develop, they've had some sort of attack there within the past couple of hours. And the attack itself was somewhat weird. It looked as though they'd been attacked by rose bushes."

"Rose bushes?" the admiral gasped in disbelief.

"Yes, sir," the second lieutenant answered, "Stonehenge may not have any major military importance, but maybe the Illuminati or whoever attacked them had some other reason for being there."

"Pendragon," the first of the generals commented off hand.

The other three generals and the admiral then turned to face general who had spoken. The general, however, kept his focus and turned to the two lieutenants.

"Where did the troops around Stonehenge originally come from?" that general asked.

"Northern Ireland, sir," the first lieutenant answered.

"I see," the first general answered, "Gentlemen, I believe we may have an opportunity, though we'll need to discuss it fully to make sure we're on the same page and our response is correct."

"Of course," the admiral nodded.

The general/admiral officers then quietly left the monitoring station room in what was Britain's very small intelligence area and moved to a nearby conference area. They were led by the first general in the group. The one who had mentioned Arthur by his family name, Pendragon.

"Okay, what was with the Pendragon line back there?" the admiral demanded.

"Arthur Pendragon," the first general answered, "in legend, the historic Briton who resisted the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain…"

"My family is of Anglo-Saxon heritage," the admiral said in a slightly agitated voice.

"Just about everyone is, but in time, the stories of King Arthur became a big part of our history, even if our ancestors were on the other side of his war," the first general answered, "in a way, the old Celtic Legend has become our legend as well. And even if he did fight the Anglo-Saxons, based off of the legend, the kingdom he created is everything we have always aspired to."

"And?" a second general asked.

"The Illuminati has blamed their invasion one Arthur Dragon, and plastered his photograph everywhere, hoping we'd side with them," the first general continued, "And said he is really Arthur Pendragon, the legendary King."

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" the third general asked, "I mean, it's ludicrous. The legend is that King Arthur reigned after the fall of Rome, and the Historians claim he was likely a Romano-Briton noble who would coble together some units that would preserve their way of life and would ultimately create what we know as Wales today… which would put him alive at around five hundred CE. He'd be over a thousand by now."

"Then why else would someone attack Stonehenge? And why would the Illuminati feel the need to defend it?" the first general commented, "we may have to accept that there are such things as magic and that maybe Stonehenge served some sort of magical purpose that Arthur needed and that the Illuminati sought to prevent him from getting to."

That was a lot for all of them to accept, but it was also something that made sense to them all. Stonehenge was of no major military importance, and it would make no sense to station troops there beyond the bare minimum to control the local population. So the only reason for such a massive deployment had to be something they wouldn't be inclined to believe. As an old saying goes, if we remove the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. They were all quiet for a moment, before the admiral spoke up.

"If he really is, Arthur Pendragon… wouldn't that make him the legitimate King of all England?" the admiral asked, "dethrone the Queen? I mean the legend has him going to Avalon to sleep. Not truly dead…"

"Maybe by a technicality, but I'm not sure he'd take the chance," the first general sighed, "I mean, he had the opportunity to do so when she knighted him… to kill her and claim the throne… but he didn't. He may not want it… and even if he does, I don't think we're in much of a position to do much about it. If he'll help us defeat the Illuminati, let's take it and take it quickly. We can see who he's loyal to after our bigger enemy is gone."

"Agreed," the other three men nodded.

"And so, now we have our next move to make," the third general spoke.

"Yes," the second General nodded, "the report said they'd moved troops out of Northern Ireland. Our forces here run from Glasgow to Edinburgh and are strong enough to hold that line, but not strong enough to advance… but if they've removed troops from Northern Ireland, our forces there might have an opening to counter-attack."

The other three nodded.

"And we do have some last reserves to land amphibiously," the admiral commented, "the Illuminati don't seem to be patrolling too much by sea at the moment, "our men are presently holed up around Ballycastle, right?"

"That general area, yes," the third general nodded.

"This may be a bit of a gamble, but I believe we can land our reserve units at Belfast and then spread out along the coast, using our ships for support," the admiral spoke, "then once they link up, the Illuminati will be cut off… and maybe with all these rumors of some wild man in Ireland spooking them, maybe we can get them to all surrender and clean up our western flank…"

"And then move troops to Scotland to drive south," the first general nodded, "when do you want to do this?"

"As soon as possible," the admiral urged, "who knows how long the rebels can hold out in London, or Arthur can hold out in Salisbury."

**London, Illuminati Headquarters**

Meanwhile the acting commander of the Illuminati was facing problems of his own. While he was a colonel and more experienced with command decisions then the two lieutenants that had to make the first response to the first attack, the position he was in was not an easy one. His actions were mostly to be dictated by superiors or from Two. At present there were no superiors to take command and Two was still at Stonehenge. No one in the Illuminati knew that the Councilmember was dead and that Merlin had regained his powers. For the moment, all he could do was keep up the orders to attack the rebels that had struck at the Illuminati Headquarters and not much else.

Fearing the rebels were part of something bigger, he moved most of the Illuminati ships to support southern England in case of some sort of 'cat claw' landing. This was actually in keeping with his predecessor's actions, though his predecessor came from a different perception of strength. He had figured the navy was no longer needed as the fight in Northern Ireland was seemingly over and the forces in Scotland couldn't hold out much longer. Either way though, the colonel's worries meant that policy didn't change.

Still, his biggest problem was the rebellion in London. They were fighting surprisingly well for what were likely shopkeepers and other non-military trained civilians that had been ignored when the battlefront swept past London early in the Illuminati invasion. While they were surrounded and victory was certain, the rebels seemed intent on making it a costly one. Every street seemed to barricaded, slowing the advance along the streets and making it difficult to move the artillery units along the streets as well. They were firing from the houses and buildings making infantry units assault each one in bitter house to house fighting, and to make it worse, the rebels had other allies making things more difficult for them.

Reports had confirmed that Macbeth was the rebellion's leader, and the Immortal Scotsman was going up and down the battle lines and shoring up the weakest sectors with his own personal bravery and combat knowledge. And with nearly a millennium of experience, Macbeth was not one to be overestimated, even at his present physical age. On top of this, a large number of the London Clan was also aiding him, and the gargoyles were giving his mean even more trouble. They were diving on the Illuminati soldiers trying to move the guns to blast at the buildings being used as fortresses and at snipers trying to set themselves up on other rooftops. This was throwing chaos into everything and enabling the rebels to put up a stronger fight then they should.

"Has there been any word yet from Two?" the colonel demanded, "anything at all?"

"No, sir," a communications officer answered, "we can't even raise the units around Stonehenge."

The colonel grumbled. Things were turning against him, and quickly. He needed more men to secure London. The forces he had were probably strong enough to win, but things were fast becoming too difficult for that. If their reserve was chewed up, they couldn't counter attack any main British counterattack in the north. They needed the men to break the rebellion quickly, before things got even worse.

"Send a message up to the units in Scotland," the colonel commanded, "I want two divisions from the weakest sector to rush back to London. We need to crush these rebels as quickly as possible."

"Two divisions, sir?" the man asked.

"The north is quiet for the moment," the colonel responded, "we're going to have to gamble. We secure London now, and with few losses, we can then counterattack any thrust they make there and retake the ground. London, Macbeth, and Pendragon are the important targets. The units around Stonehenge are chasing him, and even if they weren't, we haven't been able to contact Stonehenge. We need the men to crush the rebellion now!"

The colonel sighed and then looked about the room.

"Before Pendragon does something to change things," the colonel thought nervously.

**Outside Salisbury**

Arthur, Rachael, Merlin, and Beth made their way quietly back through the rose maze and back out to where they had originally entered it from. They had won a great victory at the Stonehenge monument in the fact that Merlin had his powers back, and the fact that Two was dead. Rachael had a little bit of guilt at that, but she had accepted that she had to make the choice she made. Arthur wouldn't have made it if she decided to try and deal Two a non-lethal blow. Now the matter at hand was to get out of the battle zone and regroup with Coyote and the others.

"Can you sense them, Merlin?" Arthur asked as they ran along, "sense where they are?"

"Not really," Merlin admitted, "I've got my powers pack, yes… I can feel that, but not sharp enough to pinpoint their location."

"Based off of all the shooting, I'd say they're to the east of us," Rachael commented, "It's died down now, but I can still hear some of it."

"You don't think they…?" Beth began to ask, sounding slightly nervous.

"I'm sure they're fine," Arthur answered, "Coyote wouldn't let them get captured if he could help it, and Griff has been an excellent knight and is familiar with these sorts of odds. I doubt they'd be able to kill him. The key is getting to them. And that will be easier once we get to the vehicles we drove in."

"Can you drive it?" Rachael wondered.

"Well enough to avoid crashing," Arthur commented, "whether or not I fully comply with all the rules of the road or what is specifically good for the vehicle's engine, is another matter."

They silently slipped out of the area where they had crossed the Illuminati's defense lines through the rose maze that Beth had conjured up with the Avalon Stone. Merlin paid close enough attention to notice that the battle lines on the outside of the rose maze were quiet as they moved out. No one shot at them, and there appeared to be no one in those sections of the line.

"We'd best do this quickly," Merlin commented, "it would appear that they've sent everyone after our decoy force."

They rushed along until they came across the armored personnel carrier that they had stolen from the Illuminati base on the north side of London. It was where they had left it, luckily, and they were quick to climb into it. Beth and Rachael were quick to get to the back seat/passenger area while Merlin sat in the front passenger seat while Arthur climbed behind the driver's seat. Arthur glanced at things, but was at a bit of a loss on how to start the vehicle. For the most part, he walked where needed to, or gotten a lift from Griff. He could manage with some things, but size of military level equipment threw him off a bit.

"For the sake of starting," Merlin sighed, sent a small pulse of magic to start the vehicle.

The engine hummed to life and Arthur managed to get into a forward gear. As he made it out and onto a nearby road, Merlin began to look around.

"Rachael, I think we ought to switch," Merlin commented, "Your night vision is better than mine is at the moment."

Rachael blinked from where she was setting her normal clothes. She was still in wolf form, and was looking toward shifting back and possibly drinking some water to get the taste of Two's blood out of her mouth. She then sighed. Merlin might have his magic, but if he used it too much, he might set off some sort of beacon. She then moved forward while Merlin climbed back. Once she was seated in the front seat she turned to Arthur.

"Most of the gun shots have come from that direction," Rachael explained, "so it'd be best to go straight and around. Not directly toward the sound of the gunfire. We'd go straight into them…"

"And it'd be best not to advertise that we've given Merlin his powers back," Arthur nodded, "You can keep a lookout?"

"Of course," Rachael nodded.

Elsewhere on that battlefield, Griff, Coyote, Reginald, Lancelot, Julia, and Octavia were making their way to the north and east, away from where the Illuminati soldiers were. Coyote had once again thickened the fog around them to make it difficult for the Illuminati soldiers to see them, and the gargoyles had landed again to avoid gliding into anything hard. So far, the trick to make the Illuminati think that Merlin and Arthur had been with them and had been killed was going okay. It had bought them the time they needed to disengage and get away from the point of the Illuminati's proverbial sword.

"So, what will we do next?" Lancelot wondered, "The real Arthur and Merlin would have come for us buy now if they'd restored Merlin's powers."

"We move far enough away to get out of their most direct line of sight, and then scout things out," Reginald explained, "find out where they're weakest and strike there, and resume our sort of fighting retreat. So long as we draw them away from Stonehenge."

"Hopefully the trick with the 'dummy' Arthur and Merlin do the trick and keep them occupied to carry this maneuver out," Griff commented.

"They'll probably have figured they weren't real out by now," Coyote sighed, "that's why they're still firing the occasional shot. They're stumbling in the dark and fog after us, and are firing at anything that's jumped them. Could be a bat, could be an owl… shoot… could be one clumsy guy in their own ranks that's fallen down."

They continued on quietly and trying to keep as low as possible in order to lower their profile as much as possible. On occasion, they did look back to where they had come, and managed to see only the fog that Coyote was leaving behind them. They sincerely hoped that the Illuminati soldiers would give up because of the fog, or at least pause to regroup and reorganize. Eventually Coyote spoke up again.

"Also, I think Arthur and Merlin were successful at getting to the monument," Coyote spoke.

"They made it to the monument?" Griff asked, "You mean Merlin has his powers back?"

"I felt a small sort of pulse come from the monument," Coyote answered, "all I know is that it was used. It could be that Beth was able to restore Merlin's powers, or Two used it to drain the Avalon Stone that Beth has."

"Is there any way you contact them?" Reginald asked.

"Yes… but it would mean leaving you," Coyote answered, "I'd rather not do that… if they catch you, you'd be routed and either killed or captured."

Reginald sighed and then looked to them, "we'll keep moving. If Arthur and Merlin's group was successful, we can assume they'd come back for us."

"Most likely," Griff nodded.

"And if they do so, we'll likely hear the APC's engine running," Reginald answered, "come on."

They continued to move on quietly for quite a while. They managed to remain hidden in the fog and began to move toward an area where Griff or one of the gargoyles could begin gliding again. Seeing through the fog from the air would be tough, but it would have to be done if they were to launch any further strikes on the Illuminati line. Griff was about to climb up a telephone pole that they'd found when they heard the sound of an engine in the foggy mist.

"Is that Arthur?" Lancelot wondered, "Or did the Illuminati find us?"

Reginald readied his weapon and aimed it toward where the sound was coming from. But, it was soon clear that it wasn't needed. The APC that they had been using came into view with Arthur in the front seat and with Rachael, still in her werewolf form beside him. They pulled up and shut the engine off. Arthur was then quick to get out and help them get in.

"Were you successful, your majesty?" Griff asked him.

"Yes, but we'd best be going," Arthur answered, "Rachael's seen a large number of Illuminati soldiers along the way here, and we were lucky to have avoided them."

"So, Merlin's powers have been restored?" Reginald asked.

"Yes, which means we need to get back to London," Arthur answered, "see what can be done there."

"Not much, other than make a distraction," Reginald replied as he climbed in to sit in the driver's seat, "besides, if Merlin has his powers back, that means that Coyote and Beth Maza , here, can return to their home."

"Of course," Arthur nodded.

"It might be best to move toward Liverpool, or some major western port," Reginald answered, "there we see about cutting some of the Illuminati's supply lines, and our American guests can esacpe to Ireland and return home from there."

"Some of that might be a good idea for other reasons," Merlin commented as they got rolling again.

"And that being?" Julia asked, somewhat curious.

"Sunrise is getting closer," Merlin explained, "The Illuminati will expect us to return to London, and will in all likelihood, lay a trap for us there. We'll need to find a way to get to London eventually… in a timeframe that allows us to move more swiftly."

Julia nodded. Merlin could likely do much with his powers, but during the day, if he was protecting her and the other gargoyles with them, that strength would be limited. They may have won a great victory by defeating Two and giving the Illuminati soldiers the runaround, but the war was far from over.

**London**

Macbeth managed to find Catherine Silver in one of the last main houses that the rebels had been holding. Their uprising had no real hope of ever winning from the beginning. They simply didn't have the supplies or the training to keep fighting forever, nor did they have the heavy weapons to make the few real strong points that they had had, impregnable. The fight was intended to draw men away from Stonehenge or the northern front to help the overall situation. And Macbeth didn't know it, but the uprising had done that, so far. The Illuminati were bringing troops down from the north, even though the uprising would be done in a matter of hours, and 'defeated' by the units of the Illuminati reserves.

"I don't think we can hold much longer," Catherine grumbled, "your gargoyles have thrown them into chaos, but there's simply too many of them. Even with the chaos they rush on."

"Dawn isn't that far away," Macbeth replied, "we won't be able to even have their help for much longer."

"How far away?" Catherine asked nervously.

"About an hour," Macbeth answered, "I've already waved Chloe down. They'll be going underground soon and the mutates will hide them for the day."

Catherine nodded and fired a shot through a window, taking down an Illuminati soldier climbing over one of the various barricades that had been constructed.

"Do you know if they're sending troops through the sewers and subways?" Catherine asked, "Because we'll need to scatter into much smaller units after something like this…"

"You'll also need to leave London," Macbeth nodded.

Catherine grumbled heavily. She had hoped for an all-out victory. She was certain that at least half of the men and women that had joined her rebel movement were dead or wounded. A victory would make their deaths worthwhile. Launching a rebellion and getting crushed wouldn't. Thankfully, Macbeth's allies, however weird they were, had thought of ways to escape. The tunnels that made up the subway and various sewer tunnels that ran under the city of London created a maze of its own that would be tough for the Illuminati to catch them in, provided they hadn't already sent troops there.

"And as for troops in the sewers, the mutates haven't seen any," Macbeth finished his answer, "but we're running short on time. You have only one entrance into those tunnels that you can use effectively. And with the gargoyles now going underground, their snipers and heavy weapons won't be harassed any further. Their advance will get stronger."

"I'd hoped we'd be able to win," Catherine gave a sigh.

"We never had the men or the equipment to win here," Macbeth answered, "the success of this uprising will be determined by what happens elsewhere. You will need to begin withdrawing now… and make sure it is as orderly as possible. They have maintained a fairly cautious approach when they've managed to push us out of the other buildings we've used as fortresses."

Catherine nodded. She doubted her untrained rebels would withdraw in good order, like an army on the battlefield in history books or movies, but they didn't have much choice. She'd do her best to relay the orders as effectively as possible.

"Where will you be?" Catherine wondered.

"I'll hold them off to buy you time," Macbeth answered.

Catherine blinked in surprise and nodded.

**London, Illuminati Headquarters**

The colonel commanding the Illuminati was finally getting some good reports in that the rebels seemed to be withdrawing from the main battle lines. The best news was that the gargoyles had left the battle. He had read Illuminati reports that dated back to when Macbeth was King of Scotland. He had relied on gargoyles to defend his kingdom then too, and when they helped him, the English suffered heavily. But in the end they abandoned him for reasons unknown. The colonel hoped things would repeat themselves now.

"Sir, with the fact that they are retreating, do you think you should cancel the order to bring more troops down from the north?" a lieutenant asked him.

"No, we will still need them," he said quickly.

"What? Why?"

"I won't change the order until all of the rebels can be accounted for," the colonel answered, "if they're not… they'll scatter and we'll need the men to hunt them down and make them pay for killing the general… unless you've finally gotten through to our units at Stonehenge."

"No, I haven't, sir," the lieutenant looked down, embarrassed.

"Then we will continue the transfer of troops," the colonel answered, "end of story."

**London Subway Entrance**

Macbeth stood quietly at the entrance area to the London subway that had been at the center of where they had ultimately set up their defenses. Catherine Silver's withdrawal of the rebels had gone well enough. They had just made it into the tunnels and the mutates would help them escape from the battle area, and possibly even get them out of the city. Now, all he had to do was slow down their pursuit into the tunnels. With him, Macbeth had a small collection of grenades taken from fallen Illuminati soldiers as well as one lone rifle with a few clips of bullets for it. Using a post for cover, Macbeth kept an eye on the one entrance to the subway. If he could get them into a major firefight, the others would get away, and no one on the rebel side would be permanently harmed.

"Unless they've recruited Demona for this," Macbeth thought to himself, but he knew the immortal gargoyle, and the only one that could truly kill him, wouldn't partner with the Illuminati. At least not knowingly.

After a few moments, though, his thoughts were interrupted as he heard sounds coming toward him. The Illuminati found everything above them abandoned and were now coming down to begin the hunt down there. He had had to buy the others time.

"They must of have gone into the sewers," one voice said.

"Come on, if we're quick, we'll gun them down," a second added.

Macbeth leaned around the post and fired a barrage of bullets down the narrow hallway at the approaching Illuminati soldiers. Three men fell before they took cover where they could, or at least got out of the center of the hallway.

"Nothing in this will be quick!" Macbeth shouted to them, and tossed one of the captured grenades toward them.

The grenade explosion caught the rest, and Macbeth soon heard cries for help and reinforcements. The help came in the form of a grenade being tossed down the entrance area with great force so that it skidded along toward Macbeth was before exploding. The immortal Scottish king managed to dive away to avoid the worst of it, but when it went off, he felt a great stinging pain in his legs as small bits of metal tore into him.

"At least it isn't as bad as it was at Ypres," Macbeth grumbled to himself and rolled around, ignoring the pain in his legs to fire the rifle at the next group of Illuminati soldiers to rush down the entry way.

Again, Macbeth shot down several men, but this time, with his legs immobilized by the grenade, he was unable to get to the grenades he had in his arsenal and couldn't use them to force the Illuminati soldiers to try and retreat back out again. This enabled his opponents to begin taking potshots at him. The first round to hit him, hit him in the shoulder, making him lose his grip on the captured military weapon he had. He rolled onto his back to draw his electric blaster with his other hand when he was hit again, this time in the and. He gave a pained grunt and brought injured hand to his chest as the Illuminati soldiers approached.

"Well, I'll be, it's the old guy, himself!" the first of the three soldiers to approach him chuckled.

"You may have caught me, but you will not catch the others," Macbeth vowed.

"Perhaps not today," the man answered, "and I have to respect you for your skill. You bloodied us a lot harder than I would have expected. But in the end the result was never in doubt and never will be in doubt. You lose."

Macbeth was unable to do anything as the man then pulled out his pistol, and fired.

**To Be Continued…**


	36. Once and Future King: Rescue

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Once and Future King: Retreat".

Once and Future King: Rescue

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**London**

The Illuminati's leader for their forces in London waited quietly in the entrance area to what was a police detainment center in London, specifically a part of London that they controlled. Not that the Illuminati had lost London, but there was some time period over the past night where it had come astonishingly close. Macbeth, Scotland's legendary king, though the legend had more to do with Shakespeare's interpretation of history than anything else, had launched a revolt against them in London, and one that had cost them more losses than they had anticipated to put down the rebellion.

Even with the rebellion now crushed, he was still nervous. He was only a colonel and wasn't really fit for anything higher. Yet, he'd had to confront a rebellion launched by an 'immortal' king that had killed the general and killed more Illuminati soldiers than expected. In addition, he had had no contact with Two, the overall leader of the Illuminati effort and the troops around Stonehenge. He needed something that he could use to turn the overall tide, as there was still quite a lot of action that needed to be confronted, and the Colonel didn't feel confident, yet. He hoped that what his men were bringing here would be of some use to him.

"Where are they?" the colonel demanded to a nearby.

"They should be here soon," a nearby security man answered.

"Have you heard from Two?" the colonel asked.

"No, sir," the security man answered.

Just as the security man finished a nearby door opened and two armed soldiers entered. Behind them came another two soldiers that were dragging an older looking man, though he looked remarkably fit. The man seemed to be only barely conscious.

"Is that…?" the colonel asked.

"Macbeth?" the first soldier responded, "Yes, yes it is. We had to shoot him when we caught up with him, but given his immortality he should be fine."

The colonel came closer and looked to the immortal King. While he didn't look perfect, he was certainly recovering, and that was to be expected given what the Illuminati knew about Macbeth. His time in Medieval Scotland and then years of chasing the gargoyle Demona were all indicators of who he was. He'd done well to try and hide it, but there were too many incidents to be coincidence. All 'them' were the same man, and as such, Macbeth was immortal and would be able to heal from the wound he had taken.

"How long will he be like this?" the colonel asked.

"Don't know for sure," the first soldier answered nervously, "Two didn't share all the files with us, as you know. Just enough to know that he is immortal and connected with Demona."

The colonel only sighed and put his face in one of his hands and then pulled down, showing his frustration clearly. His frustration was not helped any more when a communications officer from his own headquarters came rushing in, looking out of breath and frightened about something. The colonel immediately began to wonder of Macbeth's resistance allies had launched a new attack on the building, since the fight the previous night was started with the assassination of the general in charge of the Illuminati forces.

"What's going on?! Why aren't you at headquarters?" the colonel demanded at the out of breath soldier.

The man gasped for a few minutes while working to catch his breath. After a few moments he managed to regain his composure and began to answer the question asked of him.

"Sir, I bring news from Stonehenge," the man said, still sounding nervous, but attracting attention.

"Did he at least catch Arthur?" the colonel asked, sounding hopeful.

"I'm afraid that Two is dead, sir," the communications officer said slowly, much to the horrified gasps of the others, "it would appear that Pendragon's werewolf got him."

"That means Merlin will have his powers again," the colonel grumbled, and then looked to the unconscious Macbeth, "Macbeth better be able to help us get them all! Because things seem to be falling apart all over!"

**Underground**

Meanwhile, the local resistance to the Illuminati's rule was in a very similar discussion. Their leader was Catherine Silver who had allied with Arthur and Macbeth in the hopes of overthrowing the secret society that had invaded the UK and seemingly won. The previous night they had started a massive uprising in the city with the hopes of 'retaking' London. That had clearly failed as Catherine paced and listened to the suggestions she was receiving. While Macbeth and the gargoyles had helped them deliver a much harder blow than the Illuminati could ever expect them to deliver, London was still in the Illuminati's hands.

"I tell you, we never should have listened to that old goat!" one of the other resistance men grumbled, "look where we are! In a sewer, like rats and London is still under THEIR occupation."

"We delivered a much harder blow than they likely expected," one of their mutate guards warned the resistance member, "and we've managed to make sure you all cannot be tracked here. That means you can keep your fight going."

"So we can keep losing," the man retorted.

"What would you have do, Foyle?" Catherine Silver asked in frustration.

"Not take them on head's on, that's what!" the man, Foyle replied, "hit and run sort of things…"

"Foyle might have a point there," another resistance member spoke up, "all of our weapons and equipment came from that base that Arthur's team managed to take over before leaving for Stonehenge… and we just used up a lot of it in Macbeth's little uprising… and we also still have the responsibility to protect the gargoyles as well."

Catherine looked over to the wall behind her. The London clan was there and locked in stone-sleep for the moment.

"We can protect them during the day," one of the mutates spoke, "if you wish to go runnin' about and giving the Illuminati trouble…"

"Which might do us more good," another mutate grumbled, "Having all of them down here will surely attract attention to us and we cannot hide the gargoyles indefinitely if they make a concerted effort to search the sewers, subways, and tunnels under London."

"So, you'll kick us out to get killed?!" Foyle challenged, listing to the mutate's tone.

"No, what you do above ground is up to you," the mutate answered, "but the gargoyles are helpless during the day, and while our mutation can allow us to lift them, it won't work if they make a real effort to find us. We can get you away from where they think you are, but it might be safer for you to move away… at least until tonight."

Catherine sighed heavily as she listened to this. The fighting the night before had been savage, and the only thing that had kept them from being truly beaten was the help they had received from Macbeth and the gargoyles. So affective was their help, that when things did go bad, they were able to disengage without taking massive casualties. And now, Macbeth and the gargoyles were being blamed for failing to bring them an outright victory.

"We can try that," Catherine Silver nodded, "though I would ask that you allow one of your community to come with us. We could use a gargoyle's strength."

"We're mutates, madam," the leading mutate in the room answered.

"All the same… we'll need some muscle while trying to resupply ourselves and trying to think of a way to save Macbeth," Catherine Silver replied.

"I will go with you," a female mutate pushed through the crowd.

Catherine nodded to the female mutate. They had kept a very clean home, despite its location, and the mutate's fur, which resembled that of a Siamese cat looked very healthy and free of disease or dirt. With their volunteer, Catherine turned to Foyle and the other man present to give them their instructions.

"Gather the men and get them ready to move," Catherine ordered, "make sure we have all the supplies we can carry. If there is anything we can't carry, leave them to the mutates to defend the gargoyles."

Foyle and the other resistance man glanced and then moved to carry out the order. As they did so, Catherine then turned to the mutate that had been with them as their present bodyguard for the moment.

"You will let the gargoyles know what we have decided on?" Catherine asked him, "They will surely want to know about Macbeth and where we are…"

"Of course," the mutate said with a nod, "though trying to rescue Macbeth might be a bit of a stretch. The Illuminati will keep him well guarded. Your force won't be strong enough to go in, free him, and get out safely."

"Unless Arthur returns in the day, we probably won't go as far as trying to free him," Catherine answered, "we'll need to ambush some groups to replace the supplies we've lost in the fighting… and maybe gain some intelligence on where they might have him. Then we can put a plan together for the coming night."

"You seem very willing to do much to help one you know little about," the mutate commented.

"We all owe him for his help," Catherine answered, "Foyle may not like me saying this, but if it weren't for Macbeth, we wouldn't be here to discuss the failure of the attack on the Illuminati last night."

The mutate only nodded.

**Illuminati Prison, London**

Macbeth awoke to find himself alone and dumped inside a small cell. It was surprisingly well built and up to date with technology that he didn't think would be part of a standard police jail or major prison. He was lying on a metal bench with a small platform coming from the wall that could serve as a table, should he need one. There were no bars for the door to the cell. There was only an energized field, and on the other side of that field was the colonel now commanding the Illuminati forces.

"Well… you and your friend have certainly been up too much these past nights," the colonel commented, "Arthur kills Two and allows Merlin to continue to threaten Britain's prosperity and you murder the general in charge of our forces and start an uprising that ties down a sizeable portion of the garrison defending London."

"Defending?" Macbeth questioned.

"We are not the villains in this saga; YOU are," the colonel snapped back, "You and Pendragon both! We intend to move the world forward into a better and brighter future. And people like you fight us! Pervert people with superstition! Block the rise of new sciences and technologies!"

Macbeth only sat up. This colonel likely wanted information on where the others were, as he would have mentioned capturing them if the Illuminati had captured the resistance members. Macbeth was privately sure of that. He managed a slight smile, as the colonel had also revealed the success of Arthur's overall mission. Clearly, this was this colonel's first interrogation, as he had given away a point he might have used to keep the pressure on Macbeth to comply. If he had killed the general, and Arthur had killed Two, the Illuminati would be effectively leaderless, which might help those that weren't loyal to the Illuminati.

"Neither one of us have blocked anything," Macbeth said slowly, "if you had left us alone in the first place, neither one of us would have bothered with your organization's prophecies."

"Your existence is proof enough of your interference," the colonel answered, "though it is mostly Pendragon in that regard. We might be willing to return you to New York if you let us know where the rest of your little rebel army is."

"And if I refuse?" Macbeth inquired, "Unless you've somehow recruited Demona, I doubt you can kill me."

The colonel pressed a button that deactivated the field that was the cell door. It buzzed off just as two armed guards came from elsewhere in the prison and into Macbeth's line of sight. Knowing that he was unarmed, Macbeth didn't fight as they advanced into the room and restrained him. They pinned his arms behind his back and held onto him firmly. Once that was done, then the colonel entered the room with a fairly confident smile on his face. That look, was one Macbeth didn't like.

"There are fates worse than death," the colonel commented, "You will tell me what I want to know… or I will take measures to make you talk."

Macbeth only stared back as defiantly as he could.

"Take him to the interrogation room," the colonel ordered the guards.

"Right away," the guards answered.

**Basingstoke, UK**

"Is there any reason we're stopping here?" Arthur asked as he felt the armored personnel carrier they had been riding in begin to slow and pull over to the side of the road.

"Mostly fuel," came Reginald's answer, "we'll need to get fuel somewhere, though I'm not quite sure on where… or if we even can. Remember we got about a division's worth of troops coming after us, and they aren't likely to be in a merciful mood."

"What about the gargoyles?" Beth asked, "Merlin may have his power back now, but he and Coyote can't hold off a whole division and move a group of gargoyles in stone-sleep over the countryside."

"Especially when we need to make to London," Rachael agreed, "and my wolf form is negated if I have to use it to carry the gargoyles."

Arthur only sighed and climbed out of the armored personnel carrier now that it had stopped. He found that Reginald had found a relatively good place to stop as it had come near a small farmhouse on edge of the town, and there was a high hedge that surrounded it. All Arthur could see of it for the moment was the hedge.

"We may have to hold out here for the day," Arthur admitted, "hopefully the owner of the farm is not supportive of the Illuminati."

"Then let's hop to it," Coyote snapped, began to magically move the sleeping gargoyles.

Beth and Merlin quietly watched as each stone statue floated out of the vehicle and onto the other side of the hedge. Rachael and Arthur were busy joining Reginald in getting their gear out of the vehicle and making sure that there was nothing the Illuminati could get from it that they could trace.

"You and Coyote don't need to stay with us," Merlin said to her quietly, "now that I have my powers back… we are not desperate for his help and he is not bound to help us if he doesn't want to."

"No, we don't… but you're one of Elisa's friends, in a way, and for the moment, I'd imagine the Illuminati will be after us too," Beth sighed back, "So, it's not like it matters. For now, we'll help you get back to London and then we'll see what our situation is."

Merlin nodded, but didn't say anything for a few moments. Eventually, the APC's engine started again and it slowly began to roll forward. Beth turned to see Reginald jump out the driver's door and let it roll away from them. He then led them to a small gate in the hedges that Arthur and Rachael had already found. They quickly followed and went in, if only to get out of where they could be easily seen.

"Won't someone see where we went?" Beth wondered aloud once they were out of sight.

"Come on, Beth," came Coyote's voice, who then appeared suddenly, "you should know me by now."

"All traces of us outside that van are no longer there?" Merlin asked.

"Correct," Coyote nodded, "all we need now is the help of the farm owner."

And dealing with the farm owner was precisely what Arthur and Rachael were up to. Removing signs of their location could be left to Coyote and Reginald, as they knew how to do that better then Arthur did. But the farm owner was likely an innocent, and would need to persuade to join in a war he or she likely didn't want to be in. The farm owner, also, was not blind, and as they approached the house's backdoor, it opened to reveal man brandishing a pitchfork.

"Please put that down, sir, we mean you no harm," Arthur spoke as they approached, "in fact; we actually need your help."

"Help you take over England?" the farmer asked, "You're behind this war. We were all fine until you Illuminati came and trashed everything. My only son is DEAD because of you!"

"We aren't Illuminati," Rachael told the man, "we've actually been trying to stop them."

"Bloody failures, you've been then," the farmer answered, keeping his pitchfork aimed at both of them.

"Regrettably," Arthur sighed.

The farmer looked at both of them and then raised an eyebrow. After a few moments, his face took on a look of realization.

"You're Pendragon," the farmer gasped, "the guy the Illuminati said they were here for."

"I am Arthur Pendragon, yes," Arthur said with a sigh, knowing full well that the alias he had lived under since being awakened on Avalon wasn't going to work, "and the Illuminati did start their invasion because of me… but I have no true reason for their decision. Neither Merlin nor I have any intention of being a threat to you or deliberately waging war against them."

"They brought the war here," Rachael added.

"And what if I turn you over to the Illuminati?" the farmer asked, "They promised they'd leave if they had you…"

"They'd likely still stay," Arthur warned him, "in some way. After all, this invasion had to come from somewhere. If they leave, and the British government recovers and removes the Illuminati from its own ranks…"

"They'll then have to find out where they came from," the farmer finally lowered his pitchfork.

"Which would mean the war would continue," Rachael finished for him.

The farmer was silent for a moment.

"That might happen anyway," he finally said after a moment, "I don't really care where they came from. Just so long as they leave and never return."

"We're doing our best to try and stop them, but it isn't an easy task," Arthur answered, "and for today, we need your help."

The farmer looked at Arthur and Rachael and then sighed, "I'm no warrior. Even if I was, I'm too old."

"We don't expect to draft you, sir," Arthur answered, "we only ask for shelter and some place where we can hide some friends."

The farmer strained to look over Arthur's shoulder, using his pitchfork to help lift himself up. His eyes widened in surprise at the sleeping gargoyles resting closer to where Coyote and Merlin were standing with Beth between them. He then slowly began to make his way past Arthur to look at them. He approached Griff's form directly.

"This one looks like the statue in London… the creature that fought with us against the Nazis," the farmer said slowly, "is he a… a gargoyle?"

"Yes, he actually is the gargoyle from the blitz," Arthur answered, "He was brought to this general time by a time traveler. The others are members of the London Clan and are my allies in fighting for Britain's freedom. But they are helpless until dusk. We need a place to hide him and the other gargoyles."

"That will be easy," the farmer answered, "if you can gather the muscle to move them, we can hide them in my barn over there."

They all turned to see him point toward a stone and wood structure nearby.

"I got some dairy cows in there, but they shouldn't mind," the farmer then spoke, "all I ask from you is that you help get rid of the folks that killed my son."

"We'll get them, sir," Reginald vowed, "I promise you."

"It will take a while though," Arthur added.

"Just so long as justice prevails," the farmer replied.

**London**

Meanwhile, things were not as calm in London. The Illuminati were still looking for the rebels that had launched a massive uprising against them. The rebels had hit them hard and somehow managed to escape in good order. They had captured Macbeth at the end of the engagement, but the forces he had led had escaped. That put the Illuminati troops defending London on edge. Some units had gone into the subway and sewer tunnels. Most had found nothing and of the clues that the rest found, it seemed to indicate that the rebels had moved to some other part of London and went back above ground again. And now they were searching the city for any sign of the rebels.

"Man, it's like they vanished," one grumbled to another, "they all rise up like 'he we're gonna fight you' and then they run and hide from us when they know we've clearly won. And now we can't find them."

"The colonel has their leader," the second in the small two man patrol answered, "he'll talk eventually."

"Hopefully," the first nodded in agreement, "because I'd honestly thought the fighting around London was LONG over. Maybe an occasional riot, but nothing like the raid on our north base and last night…"

"Hopefully," the second shrugged and the two soldiers continued on.

They continued along quietly until they heard the sound of footsteps behind them. One turned to see what the noise was only to catch a cricket bat to the face. The blow sent him flying and left him seriously disoriented. The other turned, as if expecting a good fight and raised his rifle to fire, only to be shot by a second assailant. The men attacking the two Illuminati soldiers then turned to the first soldier who was only just staggering back to his feet. The first attacker with a cricket bat led the way and got in another blow that took the man down. As the Illuminati soldier began to sit up again, the second attacker landed a strong kick that finally knocked the soldier out.

"Come on," the second man said urgently, "these two are only part of several patrols."

"I know," the first answered, and began to help his partner remove the weapons and ammunition from the Illuminati soldiers, "ung… more than half of what they have is American…"

"The Yanks will sell to anyone with money," the other replied, "which isn't the problem right now."

"We'd also best get the one we knocked out back to Ms. Silver," the first added, "said something about their colonel having our leader."

"Ms. Silver IS our leader," the second replied, "and she wasn't captured."

"And what about the old guy that helped set up the uprising and covered our escape?" the first rebel questioned.

"That guy isn't our leader and never was our leader," the second replied.

"The Illuminati don't know that," the first shrugged as the let his partner carry the weapons and ammunition while he gripped the unconscious Illuminati soldier by under his harms and began to drag him away, "and I've heard a lot of grumbling about her supporting some old guy."

The second only sighed as they quickly disappeared into an alley. After leaving the mutates they had set up small and loosely coordinated groups trying to raid and gather supplies for what would likely be their next big push. They still had their contacts to keep in touch, and if anyone came across anything that could be of use, they were to report it. And given what they'd overheard the first of these two rebels seemed to get the impression that Macbeth was someone they would want to rescue.

**Illuminati Prison**

And in the facility that he was being held in, Macbeth certainly felt like he was ready to be rescued by someone. The Illuminati wanted information on where the rebel base was and they had proven quite persistent at asking the question and quite insistent with regard to getting answers they wanted to hear.

"I ask you again, Macbeth, where is their base?" the colonel in charge of the Illuminati in London asked

"There is no base," Macbeth answered, "they just move every few hours to keep you looking. Maybe you just missed them.

The colonel snapped his fingers and a nearby soldier pressed a button on a console near him. There followed a resounding sparking noise and Macbeth screamed in pain as he felt electricity run through him. It lasted only a few seconds, and once it ended, Macbeth dropped in his chair, letting the restraints hold him up. It hurt a little, but not as much as the electricity the Illuminati were torturing him with.

"Where is their base," the colonel asked again, "they have to have a base that they are operating from. Some place where you've stashed your likely stolen arms and ammunition."

Macbeth didn't immediately answer. They likely didn't know that most of their ammunition was likely used up in the previous night's uprising. He would need to keep that from them. If they didn't know, they'd overestimate their foe and potentially make a serious mistake and allow Silver to completely withdraw and get away.

"There is no base," Macbeth said slowly after a few moments, "no permanent one anyway. We try to move it around so that you can't find it and steal it back."

"I don't believe you," the colonel responded and gave the signal again.

Again, Macbeth screamed as the electricity flowed through him. The colonel and the Illuminati technician watched on. This time, they kept the voltage going.

"Where is your supply base?" the colonel asked, leaving the voltage on.

Unable to bare it, Macbeth tried to see if he could lead them away from where he knew the resistance would be.

"The docks… on… the east… side…" Macbeth managed to wheeze out as he screamed from the pain.

"There, that wasn't so hard," the colonel finally said, "Increase the voltage."

Again, Macbeth screamed, but this didn't last long and soon he fell silent and the room smelled of burnt flesh.

"He lasted longer than expected," the technician commented.

"He is still immortal," the colonel answered, "he's likely seen things like this before and survived. And our files are not truly concrete on him. We know he's immortal and connected to the gargoyle Demona, but there isn't that much we know with regard to many specific issues. He's been fairly good in that regard."

"But he still breaks in the end," the technician answered.

"Yes," the colonel replied and turned to two officers who had just come into the room, "send half our forces toward the docks on the east side of London. The rebel supply base is somewhere around there. I will be by eventually to supervise its capture and the retrieval of our weaponry."

"What of the other half of our men, sir?" one asked back.

"They will continue our sweeps to find where they all ran to after the battle," the colonel answered, "I've been getting scattered reports of small ambushes all day, so it's clear that they didn't run away."

"Of course, sir," the officer that had asked the question replied.

**London Apartment**

The Illuminati soldier who had been knocked out and abducted by the resistance awoke to find himself in a small and crapped apartment. He found himself stripped down to his underwear and surrounded by armed resistance members. Leading them was a female figure, Catherine Silver.

"I hear you have information that I would be interested in hearing," Catherine said slowly as she crouched down, "please go ahead."

"You won't get away with this!" the Illuminati soldier vowed, trying to sound brave.

"And your side won't succeed in oppressing us, so we're even in the end," Catherine replied, "and you personally have lost. Where is the prison where Macbeth is being held?"

The soldier didn't answer, though his fear was evident on his face.

"Macbeth, the 'old guy' as I am told you called him," Catherine Silver continued.

The Illuminati soldier didn't answer again, and it was finally here where one of Catherine's associates came forward.

"You know it's nearly dusk," the resistance man commented, "maybe we should just let the gargoyles have their way you. I hear they don't kindly to traitors."

The Illuminati soldier lost his nerve as a result of the treat that was made. While the Illuminati had enough paperwork on gargoyles to know that such an act would be unlikely, this soldier hadn't read them and had only joined to settle a series of bad debts that he had fallen into that attracted the Illuminati's attention.

"Alright! Alright! Please don't kill me!" the soldier screeched.

"So much for fanatics," a different resistance member quipped.

Catherine glared him and then once he backed off, she turned back toward the soldier whose cowering had surprised her greatly.

"Where is the prison that you've taken Macbeth?" she asked.

"It's under the Parliament building!" the soldier said quickly, fearing death at the hands of the gargoyles, "It's been there for years as the main command and control center… at least while our rule were hidden!"

"Where is the door?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know! I don't know!" the soldier answered.

"Why were they using a different place last night?" the first associate of Catherine Silver demanded.

"Images," the soldier whimpered, "before it was only a small area where we could do things in secret and the size hasn't changed much. The other HQ was to establish a formal base and is still being used, despite your attack."

"Thank you," the first associate said calmly and drew a pistol and fired at close range.

"Foyle!" Catherine gasped in horror at the execution of their prisoner.

"We can't hold him forever," Foyle answered as he holstered his weapon, "and given your wish to try and save the guy that put us in our present position, we're not going to get any stronger."

"We owe him," Catherine growled back, "we would not have escaped if it was not for him."

"We still can't divert men to guard individual prisoners," Foyle answered, "Geneva flew out the window when these people came in. Now, do you want to save the old codger or not?"

Catherine only sighed, "Come on. We'll need the gargoyle's help for this. Get a well-armed team ready. We'll meet you on a rooftop near the parliament building."

**Basingstoke, UK**

Arthur watched quietly as another armored truck drove past the farm where he and the others had presently taken shelter in. They were all in a barn and waiting patiently for the sun to set. Once that happened, they would begin to search out a way to get to London. The barn wasn't big and smelled heavily of hay and dairy cows, but for the moment it would be enough to keep from attracting attention. And while they were there, Arthur went up to a loft area where he could look out and observe the goings on.

"Any come our way?" Rachael asked him as she climbed up to join him.

"No," Arthur shook his head, "They've all gone past us, but they've gone in great numbers."

"At least it means they don't know we're here," Rachael assured him.

"And that they could do harm to the people here if they suspect our presence," Arthur answered, "and you know I can't allow that. I can't let the people suffer."

Rachael carefully took Arthur's hand and squeezed it, "I know. And we'll find a way to save them all. It may not be today to tomorrow, but we will. If there is anything I've learned since I was bitten… it's that you can accomplish anything."

Arthur gave a soft smile and looked out again. He could admire the growth in Rachael's character. The confidence and acceptance of her 'condition' that she had gained were all good. No longer was she the scared woman who couldn't believe anything she had been told and couldn't accept what she had become. She was strong, brave, intelligent, and everything else Arthur expected from anyone who would fight for justice, male or female.

"I thank you for your confidence," Arthur said simply.

"Do you have any idea on how to get back to London?" Rachael asked, "they'll likely camp for the night somewhere, but I'd bet they'd also block most, if not all of the routes to London."

"I don't really know for sure," Arthur sighed, "we'll need a new vehicle, which may mean we'll need to raid one of their camps. Merlin, Coyote, and maybe Beth can help reduce the number of enemies we'll face with magic… but that will still alert them to where we are…"

"And could lead them back into town when they realize that someone here had to have hidden us," Rachael nodded.

"We'll need to check and see which group is the weakest," Arthur sighed, "that might give us a better chance…"

Rachael was about to say something more when they noticed the farmer approaching the barn. With that, the two of them rapidly went down to join the others on the barn's lower level. They arrived just as the farmer opened the main doors and slipped inside.

"Your pursuers seem to have gotten into a fair bit of trouble recently," the farmer commented, "several look like they've been scratched up by rose bushes."

"That was us last night," Reginald answered, "They were trying to prevent Merlin, here, from getting his powers back… and we managed to outwit them."

"Hopefully you can do more of that, then," the farmer commented, "but they seem to have moved by…"

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "Once the sun goes down we'll make our way toward London. Hopefully we can do enough to make the Illuminati give up."

"How do you plan to get there?" the farmer asked.

"We'll probably try to liberate one of the Illuminati vehicles and make a run for it," Reginald commented, "it's not like we have many options."

"And in theory, we can make freeing it fairly easy," Coyote gave short smirk, "and will hopefully keep you safe."

Merlin and Beth both nodded besides the southwestern Fey.

"I have a proposition for you that would allow you to go without having to steal from them," the farmer commented, "I have an old truck. It may not amount for much, but it will help you get going quickly."

"You would help us?" Rachael asked, surprised.

"If you truly are helping get rid of the Illuminati, I'd give you my soul," the farmer answered.

"Thank you for your kindness, sir," Arthur told him and then turned to the others, "and that will only leave us with which route to take back to London. The direct or the round-about way."

The others all nodded.

**London, Underground**

Una and the rest of the London gargoyles that had not gone out on the mission to help Merlin awoke to find that they had been moved from where they had originally gone to sleep for the day. She also found that Catherine Silver and several of her resistance members were there as well, along with two mutates, one being a male bulldog based one.

"Where is Macbeth?" Una asked, noticing the immortal Scottish King was not with them.

"The Illuminati got him while we were escaping at the end of the uprising last night," Catherine said slowly.

"They got him!?" Chloe gasped pushing forward.

"Yes," Catherine answered, "but now, we have the chance to rescue him before they decide to move him out of the UK."

"I don't think we can stage another major uprising," Leo commented, "you used up a lot of what we got out of that Illuminati fortress last night and will use up all of it if you try it again to rescue Macbeth."

"We've got to do something!" Chloe insisted.

"And we will," Una nodded, "but Leo is right, we cannot just assault them again."

"It isn't an assault," Catherine interjected, trying to get things under control, "They're holding him in some sort of secret prison underneath Parliament. Most of their forces are presently trying to find where we fled to after last night's uprising. And from what I saw when I came here, it would appear that those patrols are even weaker. So if they're searching in force, it's nowhere near where we will be going."

"We zapped a couple that came snooping around the tunnels," the bulldog mutate commented, "but they have had even fewer down here than elsewhere. If this prison is under Parliament, it's underground and we can get to it."

Una and Leo traded short glances and then turned back to Catherine and the two mutates.

"What do you need?" Una asked.

"Do you have any potion or powder that could dissolve whatever armor this prison has?" Catherine asked, "Something that wouldn't attract a lot of attention… like say, an explosion?"

Una rubbed her chin for a moment and gave a sigh, "We might have had something in the shop that might work along those lines… but I'd wager the Illuminati or looters have already closed it down."

"Do you know for sure?" Catherine asked.

"Not really," Leo admitted.

"Go and look," Catherine urged, "The mutates will meet you in the closest underground entrance and guide you to where the underground bunker is."

Catherine then turned to Chloe, "and we will need your help too."

"I'll do whatever I can get Macbeth free," Chloe vowed.

Catherine came forward slowly and placed on hand on Chloe's shoulder, "I need you to come with me. The Illuminati may be spreading themselves trying to find us, but I doubt the place will be lightly guarded. We'll be creating a distraction above ground."

"And I will help provide it," Chloe vowed again.

**London Docks**

Meanwhile, the colonel who had found himself commanding the Illuminati's entire invasion was with the units that were intended finish of the resistance in London. While he didn't think they had an indefinite supply of weaponry, he was certain they'd taken enough to hold off his forces far longer than they had. Now, he would make sure they could never challenge the Illuminati again. There were reports of some ambushes coming throughout London, but they were small and seemed to be focused in a part of London that was becoming smaller. Once their supplies were gone, their resistance would stop entirely.

"Remember, it could be in any of the warehouses in this area," the colonel said to a subordinate officer nearby, "and they will all certainly be defended. I want you to shell the edges first and draw any resistance fighters out. If none come out, you are to begin going in and dynamiting each warehouse."

"And if we find nothing?" the other officer, who technically outranked the colonel asked back.

"Then we are back at square one," the colonel sighed, "begin."

**London, Near Westminster Palace**

Chloe came in for a landing as Catherine and her resistance members joined Foyle and another small team on the roof of a nearby building.

"Anything?" Catherine asked.

"We can make out guards at every door, but there is no telling how many are actually in the building," Foyle answered, "and I will repeat my objection that this is suicidal to be a distraction."

"The only other option is to go in and be the cavalry," Catherine reminded him.

"Distraction it is," Foyle then spoke.

"So when do we move?" Chloe asked.

No one said anything for a moment. Catherine was about answer when a loud booming thump cut them all off. It was soon followed by others.

"That's cannon fire!" one of the resistance members exclaimed.

"But it's from the docks on the east side," Foyle commented, "we all went to the west side after last night. We aren't doing it…"

"Maybe the Illuminati is," Catherine commented.

"Why?" Foyle wondered.

"Does it matter?" Chloe answered, "now's our chance!"

And with that the Scottish gargoyle leaped and dove down toward the palace, abbey, and location where traditionally Britain's Parliament met. Her aim was focused on one of the two guards that were standing near the door entrances to the building. Neither of them was looking up, and Chloe easily reached him without any difficulty. She reached down and grabbed the first soldier by his shoulders and then began to bank upward again.

"She's moved too soon!" Foyle grumbled from the roof.

"Maybe, but they're off shelling some other part of the city where we aren't, maybe the timing doesn't matter," Catherine replied, and then commanded the men there, "take out their men on the ground before they can draw a bead on the gargoyle!"

"Right-to."

**Una and Leo's Shop**

The two London Clan members that had lived through the blitz and waited for Griff to arrive from the past when Goliath decided to bring him into the future with the Phoenix Gate were somewhat surprised to find that their shop hadn't been touched. No looting by street punks or by the Illuminati. The move from one of the subway entrances had been tricky, but they managed.

"We need to be quick," their mutate escort answered, "It sounds like someone's taking cannon fire."

Una turned her head toward the sounds that they were hearing. Where they were, the sound wasn't as loud as the sound of the bombs going off during the blitz, but it was enough to know that it wasn't something good.

"We will move quickly," Una nodded, "but I don't think what you're hearing is that dangerous… yet…"

"Not that dangerous?" the mutate asked as Una and Leo rapidly went from the front to their shop's stock room, "those are explosions. Practically as bad as what went down with the Unseelies… makin' us attack your friends in New York."

"They're low grade artillery explosions," Leo answered, "perhaps a mortar. Nothing that will do much to most houses and certainly has nothing on the bombs from the blitz."

The mutate blinked and then remembered all that he and the other mutates had been told when Arthur and Macbeth helped them get settled into their new 'home' in London after their return. Una and Leo had been alive and lived through the blitz the Nazis had made on London in 1940.

"I'm sorry, but the blitz was my grand-father's day," the mutate admitted, "I wouldn't know much about it."

Una and Leo nodded and focused on going through the isles that made up their stock room. They quickly found a few necessary materials and Una began packing them into a small satchel as they went. They only paused when Leo handed some items to Una.

"Do you have it all?" the mutate asked as the two gargoyles met at the end of the isle in the middle of the storeroom.

"Yes," Leo nodded, "its older stock, but it should work for what you plan to do."

"It'll eat away the wall?" the mutate wondered as he began to lead them out.

"It will allow us to move through it as if it weren't there," Una answered, "in a sense it will lower the wall's density to the point that we can pass through. But it will only last a short time."

The mutate nodded and looked out. For the moment the street seemed fairly clear. They were soon out and moving back toward the subway entrance they had come from earlier.

**London, East Side Docks**

The colonel watched quietly as warehouses took some mortar fire. Some were armor piercing and could go through the building and then explode while others were high explosive and did damage on impact. The hope was that the combination would draw the resistance fighters out. He could see all of the warehouses they were laying siege to, but it would appear that they weren't coming out to fight them.

"They're trying to hold out," an officer near him commented, "that old guy must have drilled them in some sort of military discipline thing…"

"A man with outdated military experience trained a bunch of rebels overnight?" the colonel asked.

"Either that or they're too scared to come out," the colonel answered.

The other officer nodded, "Shall we send in the infantry, sir?"

"Yes," the colonel responded, "make sure they are not able to escape or hide."

**Southeast of Basingstoke, UK**

The farmer's old truck didn't move that fast as they drove along a more minor road in a southeasterly direction. It would take them away from a direct route to London, but the Illuminati force that they had tangled with at Stonehenge had expected them to take the direct route and was blocking the direct routes to London. There would likely be a roadblock of some kind, but Arthur expected it to be small in size.

"I would have thought that the personnel carrier would have been safer," Griff commented from where he was seated in the bed of the truck, "it was armored."

"It was also out of gas," Coyote answered, "and the Illuminati may be monitoring your gas stations closely. They'd surely notice an armored personnel carrier stopping at one."

"Petrol, the word is petrol," Griff corrected.

"Same difference," Coyote answered, "besides, they don't know you're now travelling by truck. Surprise is now on your side."

"You're sure?" Julia asked, travelling in the bed of an old farmer's truck did not entirely sit well with her either.

"Positive," Coyote nodded with a smile, "and I can help make sure of it."

"And Merlin has his powers back," Rachael added, "any impediment they thought Merlin would be on us is now over."

Griff and the other gargoyles nodded, when they suddenly felt the vehicle come to a slow stop. Griff got up and slowly looked out into the night, resting on arm on the cab of the truck. He could make out what looked like campfires ahead of them. If it wasn't fire, it was still some form of light.

"Looks like we got a checkpoint up ahead," Reginald spoke from the cab, "what do you want to do about it, Arthur?"

Arthur joined Griff in standing up and looked out. His vision was not as good, but he could see the points of light in the distance.

"Can we go around them?" Arthur asked.

"Not without drawing a lot of attention," Reginald answered, "and this truck is old enough that we wouldn't last long."

"It might only be a small camp," Griff commented, "we might be able to overpower them…"

"No, we need to get back to London," Arthur answered, "we attack and they'll surely send a distress signal to their other camps. By the time we get by them, their reinforcements will be on our tails."

"Could you make them sleep, Merlin?" Lancelot wondered, "You know… doze off and not notice us driving by?"

"I'm not strong enough to make that many fall asleep," Merlin commented, "not for long enough to get by them, anyway."

"I might be, though," Coyote commented, "give me a few moments, and keep your headlights low."

The southwestern fey then jumped out of the bed of the truck, waved to Beth seated in the cab with Reginald, and then seemed to turn to mist. Arthur and the others could only watch.

Up the street, the Illuminati soldiers manning the road checkpoint stood calmly on guard. They were part of the division that had been 'defeated' at Stonehenge. Many of them wanted another shot at whoever had erected the massive rose-thorn maze that they had to cut their way out of. The route wasn't considered a likely route, but was still one that would have to be monitored. After all, Pendragon would likely try to return to London, and they had to catch him. And so they had moved down this road and set up a small camp.

The camp was made up of a few rows of tents, where most were presently sleeping, but there were at least five sentries on duty. Two were watching the road while the rest were watching the rest of the camp. That didn't help them as creeping mist seemed to drift up from the side of the road and toward them. The first sentry didn't notice it, but the second one did.

"Wha…" the man said in a surprised voice, and then fell over backwards.

Noticing the mist didn't help them much. It rapidly drifted over them, and as they breathed it in, they fell asleep and fell over. They didn't notice it as it then spread further out and began to move into the rest of the camp. A few short gasps from those that were still conscious or semi-conscious were heard before the camp fell into a dead silence.

"Be safe, Coyote," Beth whispered nervously from the cab of the truck as she tried to make out what was going on, but with the truck's lights presently off, she couldn't see much.

"With as much as he can do, I don't think you have anything to worry about," Reginald commented, "all the stuff he can do that breaks every law of science I was taught in school."

"The fey are not entirely invincible," Beth reminded him, "stronger magic or iron, or any noise generated from iron, like a bell, can kill them, or at least cause them severe pain."

"We don't rely on iron as much anymore," Reginald commented, "he should be fine."

Beth was about to answer when the mist that Coyote had turned into returned. She watched as Coyote reappeared out of the mist and then dropped to the ground by the truck. She was out of the vehicle and to his side in a second.

"Coyote! Are you okay?" Beth demanded, sounding frightened.

"Just a little tired," Coyote answered in a few short gasps, "might have over done it a little."

Beth sighed and began to help him up and move him toward the cab of the truck.

"Here, rest in here," Beth urged, "I'll ride in the bed with others."

Coyote nodded and didn't argue with her.

"We are safe to go," Coyote announced as loud as he could manage, "we'll get by them all."

"Thanks," Reginald smiled while he waited for Beth to climb into the bed of the truck.

**London**

The battle near Westminster Palace was rapidly evolving into a shifting firefight. The guards around the palace that were seen from the buildings that Catherine Silver and her teams occupied were taken down fairly quickly, and Chloe in her diving attacks managed to grab a couple of Illuminati soldiers and throw them far enough away that they were knocked out cold by the impact. However, several men had rushed out of Westminster and were rapidly firing toward the buildings the resistance members were on. Thankfully, the shots weren't super accurate.

"That one was close!" Foyle gasped as a round zipped by them and ricocheted off of another part of the roof behind him.

"Not close enough," Catherine answered, "It was still way high."

"Only because they're all now so nervous that the gargoyle will grab them," Foyle answered, "they're firing at random which is keeping her at bay and limiting what we can do."

"So long as they focus on us, they won't notice that we aren't the main rescue party," Catherine answered.

"And that's assuming the gargoyle didn't launch this distraction too soon," Foyle answered, "they could call in reinforcements and nail us all."

"Do you ever see the bright side in things, Foyle?" Catherine asked.

"Not when my life is on the line, no," Foyle answered.

Catherine only sighed as one of the team then took a shot at an Illuminati soldier running toward some cover, managing to wound the man in the knee.

**The East Side Docks**

"You found no one?" the colonel in charge of controlling Illuminati invasion demanded as the infantry returned.

"No one," an infantryman answered, "no people, no guns, no grenades, no intelligence of any kind. Most of what is there is stuff that was intended to be shipped OUT before our invasion."

"Damn it!" the colonel swore, "How could this be?"

"Perhaps the old man has given you false information," the subordinate officer commented to him, "after all; he was alive in the middle ages. I'd have to assume he knows torture techniques and thus knows how to resist them."

"Macbeth," the colonel growled in a low and clearly frustrated voice, when he heard faint gunshots in the distance, "they've gone to rescue him!"

"How many are guarding him?" the officer asked.

"Not enough!" the colonel gasped.

**Illuminati Prison Cell**

Macbeth had only just recovering as much of the battle outside had begun. He couldn't hear the shots being fired or Chloe's occasional battle cry, but he did hear the surprise and almost panic that had shaken the Illuminati men manning the prison he was in. At first, he was too weak to pay much attention, but some of the Illuminati men alerted him to why he should pay attention.

"It's the resistance!" a call echoed down the hall, "they're attacking us!"

Macbeth lay quietly on his bunk trying to recover.

"They've got their gargoyle diving on us!" the call then finished.

That made him sit up and watch as he saw several guards ran past his cell. They paid little attention to him and rushed by.

"How many of them?"

"Just one, but the others are shooting at us from rooftops. I don't know how many of them are there."

Macbeth gave pained groan and hoped Catherine Silver had something better than simply rushing the Illuminati forces guarding him.

Nearby and still underground, Una, Leo, and their mutate guards made it to where the other mutates figured they'd found the underground prison. Four other English mutates were waiting quietly by what looked like a metal wall. Una was also quick to notice that they mutates had removed several bricks from the wall, which would mean that the Illuminati had disguised the prison.

"This is it?" Una asked.

"This is the only metal box underground that isn't on public maps," the first of the waiting mutates answered, "and it was disguised. If it isn't the base, it's at least another Illuminati facility."

"That doesn't do Macbeth much good if we fail," Leo commented.

"We have no choice," their mutate guard commented, "We have to do something."

Una and Leo traded glances and set down to begin mixing their ingredients. It would take them a few minutes to mix things and then get the incantation right.

"This will take a few moments," Leo told them.

Outside the battle continued. By now, the Illuminati men were focused almost entirely focused on Catherine Silver's men out on the rooftops. Chloe had been deterred by wild shots that had forced her back and she was now moving along the roof of palace, looking for any opportunity to strike at the Illuminati men while their guard was down. Chloe did her best to stay in the shadows as she maneuvered along the palace roof. The building was historic, and she didn't want to damage anything.

"They're running out of men," Chloe thought to herself as she looked at the Illuminati men in small groups trying to return the resistance group's fire, "Time to go…"

Chloe then leaped again dove toward the closest Illuminati soldiers to them. They fired on the resistance and took fire from them. One did manage to look up, but it was far too late. Chloe grabbed the Illuminati soldier by his back, clubbed him upside the head and began to carry him off. Chloe heard a few shouts and then a shot or two, but when the Illuminati tried to fire at her, they were picked off by the resistance members. As she glided back to the rooftop the battlefield grew quiet.

"I think this is the last of them," Chloe spoke as she tossed the unconscious Illuminati soldier to the rooftop.

"And you got us some supplies," Foyle commented, "Hopefully what he's using is compatible with our weapons."

"It should be," Catherine told him, "our weapons are their weapons under OUR control."

Foyle didn't say anything. Chloe meanwhile turned to the palace.

"We can go on in," Chloe commented, "Free Macbeth."

"That is up to your clan mates and the mutates," Catherine answered.

Outside the wall, Una and Leo had finished mixing the ingredients and now the white unicorn-like gargoyle began to apply it to the metal that made up the wall of the underground structure that had been found.

"Now we are ready," Leo said to the six mutates with them as Una applied it.

"We're ready," a bulldog mutate answered, electricity crackling at his fingertips.

Una nodded and then spoke the command in Latin, "Infirmarent ut perambulent!"

The mutates looked on quietly, while Una turned to the others, "Come on. We must move quickly. The spell will only last for a minute or so!"

Macbeth managed to keep watch as the battle went on. Things had managed to quiet down, but he guessed that was because the prison's garrison had left to deal with the attack that Catherine and one of the London Clan was making. There was one man left, who was guarding him with every weapon an individual infantryman could carry. If Macbeth weren't still recovering from his interrogations, he would have told the soldier that he was over armed to guard a man held by an energy field.

However, the opportunity to say even that faded when he was blinded by a sudden flash from the far side of the hall. What followed was a series of footfalls. The soldier on guard turned, only to take two electric blasts in the chest and sent flying. Leo, Una, and six English mutates then appeared in front of the energy field.

"Here he is!" one of the mutates exclaimed, "He don't look too well."

"Are you alright, Macbeth?" Una asked.

"Give me time and I will be," Macbeth managed.

"Are there any more in here?" Leo asked.

"No," Macbeth spoke, "I think all of them went out to counter your attack on the men outside."

"That's Chloe and Catherine's forces," one of the mutates answered, "they're our distraction."

Macbeth managed to blink while the mutates then simultaneously blasted the controls that kept the energy field up. Under that much electrical energy, the device overloaded and went down. Una and Leo were quick to enter and help Macbeth to his feet. Both gargoyles could see that he wasn't in any shape to fight anyone. He might not even be able to walk.

"We're here to rescue you," the mutate then finished.

"Then, let us go," Macbeth managed weakly.

**On the Road…**

The colonel braced himself as they road along London's streets, hoping to get back to the Westminster area. They were taking turns quickly and barely had time to prepare for each one they took. As they tried to keep from flying around the inside of the vehicle they were in, the colonel and those with him silently grumbled to themselves over the situation. The colonel, himself, was especially frustrated. He had been lead to believe that the warehouse district was the Rebellion's main HQ and supply area from his interrogations of Macbeth and now, not only had that been a rouse, but someone was attacking the prison where Macbeth was being held.

"Another fine mess you've gotten us into," his 'subordinate' officer commented to him, "deceived and now failing utterly… again!"

"Shut up!" the colonel responded angrily, "if we hurry we might arrive in time."

The colonel's anger was mostly due to the fact that his 'subordinate' was technically right. He had been made a fool of, and now it was likely that his prisoner was going to escape. He knew Macbeth's only hope was that he couldn't get away quickly, but the deception might be good enough that it would not matter. He honestly hoped the units Two had sent to Stonehenge returned to London. They at least had a general officer that the men would respect. He felt he'd done a decent job, but decent isn't always good enough.

**Westminster Palace**

Macbeth still felt rather weak as he made his way out of the palace with the mutates as well as Una and Leo staying close to him. He half expected to find several armed Illuminati waiting for him, but instead, all he could see was the remains of the firefight. There were some, but they were all firing at a nearby building, and were paying no attention to the rescue party. Una and Leo helped steady him as he slowly made his way down the stairs. The mutates, meanwhile moved forward.

"Allow us…" the bulldog mutate spoke.

Macbeth barely had the energy to nod and watched and listened to the crackle of electricity as the mutates blasted the Illuminati soldiers from behind. The soldiers screamed, but soon fell unconscious. With that, Macbeth managed to make out Chloe's shape gliding down toward them in the darkness.

"Macbeth! Are you okay?" Chloe asked him as she gripped him and wrapped him in her wings.

"I will be," Macbeth managed, "sore from their questioning and their strategy of asking the questions, but I will be fine."

"Good," Chloe spoke firmly, "we'll need to get out of here. Ms. Silver feels the Illuminati may rush here when they realize that we're attacking their prison."

"Then, let us go," Leo nodded in agreement, "our rescue mission is now complete."

**Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK**

"This guy's impossible to hit…" an Illuminati soldier cursed as a barbed spear flew through the air and cut down another soldier manning a heavy machinegun.

The fighting away from London and where the Illuminati had been fighting the British army in Scotland was just as savage as it was in other portions of the country. And like Arthur Pendragon and Macbeth, fighting behind the lines in England, Northern Ireland had its own 'super powered' individual fighting against their invasion. This was Cuchulainn, the ancient Celtic hero, who was secretly Rory Dugan. And it was Cuchulainn who was attacking a small Illuminati patrol in Ballymena.

The Irish hero then leaped from the roof of the building he had thrown the spear from. It was only one story, so it wasn't too much. Cuchulainn landed on one soldier and shoved his head to the ground hard, knocking him out, and then swung one fist to catch the last of the soldiers. The blow sent the man flying and he landed in a small street fountain.

"This guy has seen worse than men with guns running spooked about a 'ghost'," Cuchulainn said calmly and looked down the area around the portion of the town he was in.

He'd been privately sure that there were more Illuminati soldiers in the area, but at the moment there were only three. He shrugged and guessed the others had either fled or weren't close enough to notice him. He gripped Gae Bolga and in a flash of light returned to the form of Rory Dugan. His fight had been one of ambushing infantry patrols in Cuchulainn's form and then reverting to Rory Dugan when he was sure no one could see him. It had been a fairly successful one that had allowed him to create a great deal of fear among the Illuminati. They seemed to refer to him as a ghost. It wasn't much, but he figured that if he could do enough, the Illuminati would back off or leave altogether. He wasn't quite sure on what to do from there.

Rory looked up when he heard a few shots in the distance. They didn't sound like executions, more like a firefight. That left him fairly puzzled, as from what he remembered, the British army in Northern Ireland was clinging to the north coast. He moved to the northern edge of the town only to see an armored personnel carrier came around the corner with the Union Jack flying from one of its antennas. It came to a stop in front of him, and a hatch on the top opened. A British soldier appeared there shortly after.

"You British?" the soldier asked.

"Irish, from Ulster," Rory answered, "You?"

The soldier nodded.

"What are you doing down here?" Rory asked, "I heard you were all pinned down at Ballycastle."

"Was," the soldier smiled, "Blighters around here been spooked by some ghost or something and our intelligence says they're all concerned about events closer to London… apparently the guy they want is helping us in his own way."

Rory nodded.

"Plus our last reserves got pumped into the fight here," the soldier added, "They came in during the day and we got the men to drive them out… especially if they're all still chasing this ghost of theirs."

"I see," Rory said slowly and then let them pass.

It appeared as though rescue was getting closer at hand. He'd have to do more as Cuchulainn, but if he could get rid of the Illuminati, he'd do a lot to keep his hometown and his father safe. For the moment, while he wasn't quite sure as to whether or not the man identified as 'Arthur Pendragon' was good or not, but he did have to admit that his presence was already turning the tide. Rescue was not far off…

**The End…**


	37. Once and Future King: Rise Up

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Once and Future King: Rescue".

This is the most up to date chapter for the Britannia saga and will now go into my normal rotation of stories.

Once and Future King: Rise Up!

By SN

Email: Sam_Nary

**London**

The military commander who served with Two at Stonehenge paced in a very frustrated manner in the offices that had once belonged to the overall Illuminati commander before he was assassinated at the beginning of Macbeth's brief uprising in London. In front of him, the colonel that had found himself in charge in the wake of the overall military commander's assassination stood nervously. The room was quiet of nearly all noise, and that which could be heard was not a serious matter. The buzzing of a fly's wings or the hum of the air conditioning and heating units were about all that could be heard besides the general's boots hitting the floor.

"You've half doomed us!" the general finally growled, "Doomed us!"

"I didn't fail to defend Two, General Crawly," the colonel said nervously, trying anything to defend himself, "Macbeth and his compatriots seem to be smarter than anyone anticipated. Stronger too…"

"That's a pitiful excuse," General Crawly answered, "You know full well that we'd pulled troops from the front lines to forge the trap that Pendragon escaped at Stonehenge and you furthered it by overreacting to Macbeth's uprising?!"

"He could have had more men," the colonel answered, "and his first move was to assassinate the Illuminati's military commander for the entire invasion. What was I supposed to do? Just let them take London?"

"I expected you to understand the overall situation!" the general screamed, "this resistance that has grown up around Pendragon and Macbeth is small and insignificant in size. ALL of their supplies are originally ours and came from the ambush they launched on our north base! There was no way they could have taken London! No way!"

The general then turned to face the colonel, whose nervous look had grown even greater. He could see sweat pouring down the colonel's face. That nervousness, however, didn't ease his mode or make him try to reassure the colonel's nerves.

"And in overreacting, you've weakened our fronts in other sectors and the British pushed us back a bit in the north, but worse they secured Northern Ireland," General Crawly growled, "As a result, we've lost ground, we've lost face, and we lost Two all in one fell swoop! Any one of these could be problematic, but we could overcome them. All of them are a recipe for defeat!"

"But you…" the colonel began to point out.

"Pendragon will surely attract more to his banner and we will need to pull more men away from the front to confront him and his allies, which defeats the entire military purpose of the invasion in the first place!" General Crawly continued as he slammed his fist down, "It will give the regular British troops confidence and hope that they can turn things around."

**Scapa Flow**

Rory was somewhat awestruck and surprised by where he was. Finding out that he was carrying the 'avatar' of his ancestor, Cuchulainn, had found him doing far more than just goofing off or engaging in petty crime… though he figured that that had been more Molly, Banshee's, influence. He had become somewhat of a local hero in dealing with things like cats up trees and even managed to find some honest work, though it wasn't much, but he never pictured anything like this. Scapa Flow was once the headquarters of Britain's navy, and had been reactivated thanks to the Illuminati invasion, and now Rory found himself there. He was escorted by a lieutenant through hallways that he never figured he be wandering down.

"I'm still not sure if I belong here," Rory commented as he looked at the wall, looking to see that paintings that had once been there had been removed, likely for their own protection.

"From what the reports that the men in Ireland gave, I'd wager that you would be quite valuable here," the lieutenant replied, "at least for a short while."

"I really didn't see much," Rory answered.

"Yes… but you did see this armored warrior that the Illuminati called a ghost?" the lieutenant answered with another question.

"Cuchulainn?" Rory shrugged, "He's a hero in my part of Ireland, and was an ancestor of mine… but much about him is merely a legend."

"Every legend has some truth to it," the lieutenant replied, "but anyway, I'm only here to escort you."

Rory only nodded. He then quietly followed the man on. He was eventually lead into a small sort of conference room with sever high up looking officials in the room. It only added to his feelings of unease with being where he was.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Dugan," one of the generals there spoke calmly, "We've been told that you were involved in assisting our units retake Northern Ireland."

"Not directly, sir and nothing I did was special," Rory answered.

"Not according to the reports we've received, both from the units that met you when they retook Northern Ireland and from prisoners that we've taken there," the general answered.

Rory stood there nervously. He really didn't want to let anyone know about his connection to Cuchulainn, but if pressed, he might not get that chance.

"Many of the Illuminati troops in interrogations ranted about being attacked by some 'ghost' wielding a spear made out of light," a different general answered, "and this included many of the men we took prisoner when our men first ran into you."

"If anything, I was only a small part of things," Rory spoke up, "I really don't think anyone should be ruled over by these Illuminati…"

"And we are grateful for the help," the first general spoke, "but I don't think you were a small player in this."

Rory gulped.

"Either you've found some powerful weapon that the Illuminati troops misidentified and couldn't counter, or you planned out the actions that a warrior undertook to disrupt their campaign," that first general said slowly.

That made Rory give a sigh of relief. They didn't say that he was essentially the reincarnation of a Celtic hero from ancient times.

"We were hoping you and possibly your warrior or group of warriors could assist in the coming campaign against the Illuminati in Scotland and England," the second general spoke, "We know that Pendragon and a man called 'Macbeth' have been helping us out around London, but we haven't been able to make contact with him. We need someone we can communicate with and help disrupt the Illuminati… especially near York…"

"Which is where we intend to begin our main drive back toward London," the first general finished.

"I'm not really much of a military man, sir," Rory answered, "I might be able to give them a little trouble here and there, but nothing that would really help you directly."

The gathered generals all looked down and looked almost frustrated by things. It was as if they were expected more. Rory only gave a sigh in response to that. He didn't like the Illuminati any more than they surely did, and he had taken on the role of a 'hero' after becoming Cuchulainn. He also noticed that the generals also mentioned the names Arthur Pendragon and Macbeth. From what he remembered, the Illuminati seemed to blame at least Arthur for the war, and the generals did seem to think they were helping them.

"I might be able to find this Arthur Pendragon, though," Rory then commented, "You said he was active around London?"

The generals all looked up.

"You would get him for us?" the first general asked.

"He would be better served to helping you than I would, and by going alone, I could get to him without drawing too much attention to you," Rory answered, "It'd be the least I can do."

Rory watched as the generals then whispered something among each other. After a few moments, the first turned him.

"Will you need any help to get through the lines?" the first general asked.

"A distraction, maybe," Rory answered, "though, I'd assume you'll also want me to take some sort of radio so that you can talk with him once I find him?"

The generals nodded.

**Farnham, England, UK**

Meanwhile the man that the 'free' British generals wanted to meet was standing guard over the statues of the gargoyles that had come with him. Arthur had hoped to get back to London quickly where he could reunite with Macbeth and figure out the next move, or force some endgame that they could win, and at first, things had looked like they might just make it. They got through a guard post near Basingstoke with little trouble, but they sound found other checkpoints that were far more alert. One even opened fire on the truck they were in and it was only Coyote's magic and Griff diving on them in surprise that enabled them to escape. Even with that, the truck took enough damage that they had to go on foot. As such, they only made it as far as Farnham.

They were presently hiding on the roof of the town's church. Griff, Lancelot, Julia, and Octavia took positions where their stone forms would blend in with the church's appearance while their human companions sat quietly in one of the bell towers. The only one who had gone out was Coyote, and mostly as a scout to see what was going on in the city and come up with some route to take once the sun set, and that had seemed like an increasingly more difficult as the Illuminati seemed to be setting up more check points and patrols that were becoming more difficult to avoid.

"Troubles?" came a soft voice from behind Arthur as he looked out from his spot inside one of the bell towers.

Arthur turned to see Rachael standing quietly on the wooden platform that was made up the internal framework and portions of the church's bell towers. He knew she was still dealing with the tough decisions she had to make with regard to Two, but she did look like she was doing okay with it. She had come a long way from when he and Merlin had first met her when she was still afraid of her werewolf form. Now, she could not only control it, but had really become part the 'team' as it were, even if that hadn't been her original goal. Remembering that made him sigh.

"I'm sorry to have drug you into this," Arthur said slowly.

"All this?" Rachael asked.

"You didn't want to be part of all my adventures once," Arthur answered, "merely to adapt to what the Illuminati's lycan did to you."

"Things change," Rachael answered, "I'm not the same woman you met back then."

There was something about her that looked somewhat serious, but still very concerned. Arthur also remembered what he had been told after the battle with Two at Stonehenge.

"I've become stronger… and I'm not just talking about my physical strength," Rachael continued slowly, "and you aren't a bad man… certainly better than these Illuminati nitwits."

"Thank you," Arthur gave a weak smile, and then looked out over the town, "Now if only there was a way to defeat them without having to run and cower every day to protect the gargoyles… not to mention avoid the risk of them deciding to do something truly wicked in retaliation."

Meanwhile Coyote was making his the town and observing various things as he did so. There weren't too many soldiers there in Farnham, and most of those that were there seemed to be the garrison type troops that were intended to only handle minor police work. But there were some that looked like they were parts of the units that had been around Stonehenge. In that sense it was clear that the army that they had tricked and escaped were now either hunting them, or at least trying to force a rematch of the earlier battle. However that wasn't the only thing he heard.

"They're doing too much," said a voice, "to many men and demanding too much."

"All to catch this 'Arthur Pendragon' if he really is who they say he is," another commented.

Coyote quietly came around the corner to see two women grumbling at the door of a nearby market building. They seemed to be discussing something that related to the Illuminati invasion. They were against it, but were clearly confused over why the Illuminati had invaded. At this, Coyote decided to try and see what he could do to help get them on Arthur's side. He then made his way closer and used just enough magic to ensure that the face they would see wouldn't be one that the Illuminati would recognize.

"Would it really matter if he is Arthur Pendragon or not?" Coyote then inquired as he made himself known to them, "The Illuminati is making everyone suffer anyway. Even if they had Arthur, I'd bet they'd still make our lives miserable."

The two women looked him at him slowly and then acknowledged him.

"But he is still the reason they attacked us, son," one said, "If we get rid of Arthur… maybe we could convince the Illuminati to back off."

"Back off for what?" Coyote retorted, "We still know they're out there… and they've gone so far… what reason would they really have to back off?"

"None," the other said slowly, "but… to have one man bring all this on us…?"

"That's akin to saying World War II was Churchill's fault," Coyote charged, "that if we just let Hitler have his way with Europe, we wouldn't have had a problem. The Illuminati are just as bad."

"So what would you do, young man?" another asked in both suspicious and irritated voice, "hide and just let them take over? As you appeared to do?"

"I did want to fight!" Coyote answered, playing the role of a young man who the war had passed over quickly, "but what was I to do? I was too young to formally join the army before the invasion, and when they came… they came too quick. I didn't even know they were there until after they went PAST my home!"

"So what do we do then?" the other woman demanded, though it a bit more hushed voice than her neighbor, Cathy and I are too old to be soldiers."

"I'd say we all fight," Coyote urged, "find this Arthur and fight with him. Age doesn't matter. We've got to do something to slow them down, and maybe this Arthur will know what to do."

"With what?" the first woman, Cathy said back, and then glanced down the street, "Knitting needles?"

"With whatever we can get… if a husband or brother has a gun, get that… steal some weaponry from the Illuminati themselves," Coyote answered, "I've scouted around their little camps here… some of them aren't too hard to get into."

"You're quite an adventuresome young man," the second woman said slowly, and then gave a sigh, "but I would like to see these Illuminati buggers gone. Find this Arthur and we'll see if we can find you some volunteers. We'll meet at the cathedral."

To that Coyote did smile. While Arthur may not want an army that would best function as guerillas and causing mayhem, he knew that he wasn't going to get an army of trained warriors. Those were far to the north. Arthur would need to get the average British citizen to unite and rise up with him. It wouldn't be much, but Coyote had the gut feeling that that and some trickery was the only thing that would work.

**Buckhaven and Methil, Scotland, UK**

Rory sat quietly inside what looked like a sort of private yacht combined with a speed boat that was being hidden under tarps at its small mooring. Given its location it looked out of place, and Rory felt even more out of place given how they had dressed him. He was dressed all in black with even a black cap that hugged his head a little too tightly for his tastes. They were now presently waiting for both the sun to set and enough darkness to come down that they could try to sneak past the main front lines. Some of it was still a bit odd, since he had been told that the army had pushed the Illuminati forces back in some places as well and had made it as far south as Ainwick when their units in Northern Ireland had ran into him, and that still made Rory wonder if he had made the right choice in agreeing to find Arthur for them.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rory asked nervously as he scratched at his chest, "I could always go overland."

"You're more likely to attract attention that way," a naval lieutenant answered, "we want to get you behind Illuminati lines without having to fight a major battle to do so. Going overland would require that."

Rory looked across the room to the lieutenant, who had a couple of naval NCOs manning the actual controls of the ship.

"Here… the navy will stage some raids along the coast and we'll go out further and move further down the coast," the lieutenant continued, "and you said you could swim well?"

Rory nodded.

"And once we get close enough, you'll take that waterproof box, which has the radio in it, and you'll swim in," the lieutenant finished, "You won't be in the town, but you may still want to get away from where you land fairly quickly. I can't really be sure how active they will be or how much attention they will be posing."

"That's what has me nervous," Rory answered and then looked out to see the sun set over the western horizon, "they could blow us to smithereens without a second thought."

There was no answer and Rory only sat quietly as the navy men began to start up the ship's engines. It was doubtful that it would stand up to any sort of fire, but it did look just civilian enough that maybe no one would really notice it. After a few moments he felt the ship lurch forward and pull away from the dock. A few moments later another NCO came in.

"We're clear of the dock, sir," the sailor reported, "and the fleet should already be on their way to their diversions."

"Then let's up we can get through this safely and see if you can stir up some rebellions against the Illuminati while on your way to finding Arthur," the lieutenant nodded with his eyes looking directly to Rory.

Rory only sighed again.

**Farnham**

Griff and other gargoyles that had gone with Arthur to restore Merlin's powers awoke with the setting of the sun, and the griffon-like gargoyle looked forward to resuming their journey to London and making their movement. He joined Julia and Octavia in heading in through a window into the bell tower that Arthur and the others were waiting in. He found them all talking with Coyote who was reporting on what scouting errands he had been asked to run during the day.

"An armed insurrection?" Arthur asked, "That would…"

"It would give you the thing you need," Coyote answered, "an army. As you are, you're nothing more than a mosquito bite to the Illuminati. If they're smart, they'll finish off the regular army and THEN move on to you."

"These men won't be soldiers," Reginald spoke up, "and we don't have the arms to give them, even if they do join us."

"One doesn't need to have a trained army," Coyote answered, "Tribes in America's west held off vastly better trained and better armed soldiers for years before disease and starvation rather than military defeats forced them to surrender."

"Most of those tribes though had strong warrior cultures," Beth reminded him, "they may have had no formal training, but that doesn't mean they were strangers to war."

"What's going on?" Griff asked as he came in and gave Octavia and Julia room to enter. Lancelot, meanwhile, followed in behind them.

"Coyote believes we need to try and incite more rebels against the Illuminati," Merlin told him…

"And use alternative tactics," Coyote finished, "hit and run… nibbling at small units and taking any and all weapons they had with them."

"A bit different from the Battle of Britain," Griff said slowly.

"Or the stories of Arthur's reign," Lancelot added.

Arthur gave a frustrated nod. What Coyote had proposed was something very different from what he had ever experienced as king. And it was true that he didn't have an army with which to defeat the Illuminati in a traditional fight.

"Guerilla tactics would still require some training," Reginald pointed out, "otherwise, your guerilla won't know when to retreat and disappear."

"Between Merlin, Beth, and I… we can provide enough of a distraction that you, Arthur, Rachael, and the gargoyles can provide whatever training may be needed," Coyote answered, "and remember, you will need to start somewhere."

"I know," Arthur gave a slow nod, "I know… but they're all so innocent… so outside…"

"That's the fifth century talking," Coyote warned, "more honorable, perhaps. But it isn't the way the Illuminati or most other armies wage war today. Especially when it seems that both sides are evenly balanced."

"Total war," Griff said slowly, and fears of what might have happened if Hitler had won flashed through his mind.

"And they said they would come here," Coyote spoke, "Give them a chance. This invasion can't be popular and you will need ALL the help you can get."

"All right," Arthur sighed, "I'll meet with them, "You and Griff will come with me. If they are to help… they'll need to know some of the… eccentricities that will go along with working with me."

Coyote nodded while Arthur turned to the rest of them.

"I'll need the rest of you to keep a look out as we may need to make a quick getaway," Arthur spoke calmly, "and the more surprises that we'd have on our side, the better."

"Of course, sir," Reginald saluted.

"You can count on us, your majesty," Lancelot vowed.

"And good that you've agreed," Julia commented as she looked out of a different window, "because we have about twenty people headed this way… some look like they're armed with old hunting rifles."

Arthur only gave a sigh and began to walk down the stairs. Griff followed quietly, with only the sound of Arthur's shoes hitting the floor being heard. Rachael watched both of them descend the staircase and privately hoped they weren't making a mistake. She glanced for Coyote but saw that he had vanished.

One of the two women that Coyote had spoken with earlier, Cathy, lead the procession toward the cathedral. It had been a fairly small one and a slow procession as they didn't wish to attract attention from the Illuminati garrison, which was fairly small, but still well armed. The young man who had spoken of rising up against the Illuminati spoke passionately and was highly defensive over the fact that the war had passed him by when they first invaded. But while the Illuminati were not popular in Farnham with all their curfews, rations, and removing them from governing themselves, Cathy and her friend hadn't found that many that would be willing to consider openly taking arms. Most of those that were, would be too old by most standards, but it wasn't like they didn't have much choice. As they approached the cathedral, the young man they'd met before was waiting for them at the door.

"This is all incredibly risky," Cathy announced, "but there are those that are willing to take a stand against the Illuminati."

"And any and all help would be appreciated," Coyote answered.

"Did you find him?" Cathy questioned.

"Yes," Coyote gave a smile, "Came here to pray for a miracle and found him actually making similar prayers… to free the people of Britain."

Coyote slowly opened the door, which creaked slowly as he did so. Once it was open, Coyote held it open and let the people go on in.

"Go on, he's waiting," Coyote urged.

Cathy slowly led the group through and went into the room where she remembered going to church since she was little. The grandeur of it was largely gone as the Illuminati had looted it when they passed through, claiming that there might have been some sort of 'magic trinket' that had been there. Trinket or not, that was more than enough for Cathy to hate the Illuminati. Standing at the head of the nave, near the alter was a lone man. He wore a long coat, jeans, a sweatshirt, and boots that were tucked inside the jeans he was wearing. Cathy also noticed what looked like the hilt, handle, and pommel of a broadsword sticking up behind the man's head and in front of the jacket he wore. This had to be Arthur, but strangely, he wasn't what attracted the most attention. That honor went to the gargoyle beside him.

"I saw him in London!" came a voice in surprise.

"The man?"

"No, the gargoyle! 'E's the one from the memorial!"

"Sir Griff did serve during your Battle of Britain," Arthur answered him, "and it has been my great honor to have him as one of my knights."

"So you do seek the throne?" a different man challenged.

"No," Arthur answered, "My time to live as Britain's political ruler has long since passed… I've found that in the world of today, the concept of 'kingship' and 'knighthood' are more metaphorical than anything else… to live up to the idea of Camelot… of chivalry and using might to protect and serve what is right."

There were a few hushed whispers that went through the group. Cathy only stood quietly.

"And today… that is you, the people of the United Kingdom… England… Great Britain… Britannia, whatever name you use," Arthur continued, "I will serve you, your people and your government, Parliament, Queen and all!"

"And you'll fight the Illuminati?" Cathy asked.

"To free you? Yes," Arthur answered, "To do what is right? Yes. To give you justice? Yes."

Cathy listened as several of the people there actually cheered. She glanced to see that Coyote had joined them.

"But the fight will be tough and the forces arrayed against me are too great to fight alone," Arthur continued, "I will need those brave enough to risk their lives in rising up against the Illuminati and joining me in what will be a form of warfare that you probably did not read about in the legends about Merlin and Me."

"Can he help?"

"He can and will," Arthur answered, "and there are others who will help. Some are like Griff here… they are gargoyles. One… one is also a different version of human…"

"Different version of human?" the question sounded suspicious.

Arthur was slow in answering. He didn't want to reveal to them that Rachael was a werewolf, as they might break off from them thanks to the common stereotypes that werewolves were brainless murderers. But the suspicious tone they had taken made it impossible for him to avoid it. He looked up to try and explain her condition when he noticed that Rachael had come downstairs, fully transformed and wearing the jumper that allowed her to avoid being naked when she returned to her human form.

"He means to say that I am a werewolf," Rachael spoke in a clear voice as she approached, "but hopefully you can see that I am NOT some mindless monster."

There were gasps as Rachael approached and they actually stepped aside to let her past them. She came up to Arthur quietly and then put a clawed hand on his shoulder in a way that made it clear that she wasn't going to just attack anyone.

"And I will also tell you that I fight by Arthur's side for a better future," Rachael finished, "You will find in me a strong protector. Just as strong as the gargoyles."

There were a few hushed whispers, but no one left the crowd. Arthur meanwhile took pause to whisper to Rachael.

"What brings you here?" Arthur whispered to her.

"We have a squad of what look like local garrison troops," Rachael whispered back, raising a hand to make sure that no one might read her lips, "They're headed this way. Merlin will bringing in some mist to obscure vision and Reginald is preparing to bring down some fire to pin them down while Lancelot, Julia, and Octavia take care of them… however, we will need to leave here shortly. Once they know something is up, their reinforcements will be coming in."

"We'll need to raid somewhere to arm these people if they side with us," Arthur answered.

"We might get some from the approaching guard, but we'll need to wait to get more arms from elsewhere," Rachael spoke slowly, by this time attracting attention of a different sort.

Cathy was as surprised as any other to see the female werewolf enter. Her tall and fur covered frame also displayed a great deal of muscle mass that actually managed to reinforce her femininity rather than take away from it. She was also surprised to see what looked like attraction between Rachael and Arthur, but said nothing on that. But they were whispering about something, and she thought she heard 'garrison' somewhere in it.

"What are you talking about?" came a demand from the crowd.

Arthur carefully motioned for Rachael to step to a side. He then spoke slowly.

"I am afraid that we may be having some unwanted company very soon," Arthur spoke, "I assure you that I and my friends and allies will do everything we can to make sure that you aren't captured by them. I would ask you to join us in fighting them and that we will ultimately do what we can to see that you are armed… but I will leave your decision to you. If you do not wish to join us… I will not hold it against you. But I will still ask that you take cover while we deal with this attack."

**Off of Ashington**

The thrashing and bouncing in the surf did not make Rory feel well. Their ship made it out quietly and had little attention paid attention to them. So, for the early nighttime hours, they made their way south until they came off of the town of Ashington which was still under Illuminati control. There was not any fire directed at them, but Rory could hear the sound of rockets and artillery in the distance. That had to be the distraction operation that Rory had heard the other sailors mention earlier.

"Okay, we're about in position, are you ready?" the lieutenant asked to Rory as he sat there.

Rory swallowed and lifted up the waterproof box that held the special radio he was to deliver to Arthur when he found him.

"About as ready as I'll ever be," Rory replied, knowing that it wasn't much.

He then turned to head out when the third sailor came up to him.

"I'll escort you onto the deck and will give the last checks before you go into the drink," the sailor spoke, "remember to go quick once you're ashore, as we can't stop and we have no way of knowing how much of a view we're giving them."

Rory nodded and made his way toward the stairs and then went up them. He made it topside to find the wind a bit refreshing, but much of it seemed to be from the movement of the small ship they were in. He then glanced out to see there were very few lights on along the coast. That gave him some hope that he'd be able to carry out the insane mission he'd volunteered for.

By this time the sailor had made it out and began to usher him to the stern of the ship. From there, Rory could see the wake of the ship.

"We're not too far from the coast, but you'll still want to be careful," the sailor instructed and took the box with the radio, "Remember, you're to jump behind the ship… you won't get sucked into the propellers that way."

Rory then felt his back being jerked around as the sailor began to fit an aluminum harness to his back that would hold the box and the radio while he swam.

"Right," Rory nodded as he accepted the straps to hold the harness to him and then snapped them shut.

As the last strap shut quietly the sailor then patted Rory's shoulder.

"Okay… you're good to go," the sailor responded, "JUMP!"

Rory did so, albeit with a little reluctance given how odd the overall situation was for him. He found the water cold and rapidly began to swim toward the coast. The 'uniform' he had been given clearly was not designed for being wet, and Rory figured he'd need to spend some time drying his clothes before doing anything else. His strokes were strong enough to avoid drowning, but also soon found that it wasn't entirely enough as he could feel the tide pulling at him.

"Come on," Rory grumble and briefly stopped to reach inside his coat where the stick that was the disguised spear of light held by some concealed straps. The straps had probably been intended for gun, but Rory wasn't about to complain about having something that could help them.

He gripped the stick tightly and then thrashed it in the water, and in a flash of light, Rory appeared to have vanished and Cuchulainn remained. He could still feel the aluminum frame and the radio on his back, but the effects of the tides was much less and Cuchulainn made much better progress toward the coast. However, the flash of light and the thrashing in the water also served to alert defenses along the coast. Cuchulainn squinted heavily as two flood lights came on and centered on him.

"Who's out there?" a voice shouted from the Ashington harbor, "speak or we shall shoot."

"So much for quietly landing away from their defenses," Cuchulainn thought to himself and then shouted back, "How is this for speaking!?"

He then threw his spear of light toward the flood lights. Gae Bolga hit one, which exploded, and then returned to Cuchulainn. The Irish hero did continue to swim while his spear struck that first flood light, but he also noticed that the other light was destroyed when the first was destroyed. The area rapidly fell into darkness and the men manning that defense point opened up with their machine guns.

Thankfully, without their flood lights, their aim wasn't perfect, though close enough for Cuchulainn to hurry. He made his way to the small dock, likely designed for small scale fishing and private 'pleasure' sailing rather anything big or official. As Cuchulainn climbed out of the sea, he found that the two defense points were a set of sand bags that were positioned more to check traffic coming down a small road along the coast than stopping any sort of amphibious operation. They did however notice his spear and tried to turn themselves.

"There he is!" one soldier shouted.

Cuchulainn ran hard and managed a swift leap into the first set of sandbags and tackling the Illuminati soldier manning the gun. The man bent backwards, lost his footing and fell unconscious when his head hit the ground. Cuchulainn back handed the other soldier in it, who tripped over the sandbags and was actually gunned down by the other sandbagged area.

"Damn it!" the soldiers cursed and tried to reposition their machine gun again.

Cuchulainn hit it with the spear of light, and a quick flash, they were unconscious. That left him in a moment of quiet, but he did hear shouts from the south and there were approaching flashlights in the distance and he rapidly left the area, vaulting a wall and returning to Rory's form. Once there, he removed the aluminum frame and took the radio by hand. He was still sopping wet, but he figured he'd be able to hide a bit better this way than as the Celtic hero he was descended from.

"Well… now I'm here," he said slowly, "Now to find this Arthur."

**Farnham**

The squad was made up of members of the local garrison that had been left behind in Farnham to 'protect' it after the Illuminati had conquered that part of the UK. General Crawly had men in the overall area, but they were largely sweeping the countryside for signs of Arthur and his allies. Their present investigation was focused on a few reports from one or two other patrols and a very small handful of informants that had reported strange activity near the cathedral. They assumed it would be a quick march in, arrest or shoot some lone rabble rouser and chastise the people he'd attracted. They felt it would do them good after news had come down to them that Two was dead and that Illuminati had been defeated in Ireland.

They did not march unnoticed as Merlin had helped Reginald get to a point on the roof of the cathedral where he would get a better shot at them than from the bell towers. He was also preparing to bring in a fog that would obscure the vision of the Illuminati garrison troops. Griff, Lancelot, Octavia, and Julia waited quietly on the top of the bell towers for the signal, which would be Reginald's first shots where they would dive down from the flanks. Beth remained behind as an additional lookout, just in case the squad wasn't alone.

"You realize the fog will also obscure your vision," Merlin warned Reginald.

"They're only one squad," Reginald answered, "All I need is one good shot. From there, the gargoyles and Rachael… who have better vision than I do can take over."

Merlin could only nod and then chanted quietly, "Venite caligo!"

And with that a thick fog erupted from Merlin's fingers and then sank down to the roof where they were crouched and then went further down toward where the soldiers were marching. They hadn't noticed it, but Reginald was not about to let them wait to find out if there was any trouble. He squeezed the trigger, and the first man in the line fell dead, and the ambush had begun.

On the ground level, the shot came as a great surprise. They expected a troublemaker, but they didn't expect that troublemaker to expect them.

"It came from the roof!" the third man in the squad shouted and pointed.

The others looked up only to see the thick fog descending from the roof toward them. This was immediately taken as another bad sign. Two men shot in the general direction of where the shot that had killed their leader came from, but with the fog coming in, they couldn't make the man out. In fact it even looked like he had backed off a bit and wasn't alone on the roof. As the fog began to envelop them, the third soldier even thought that he saw three winged shapes leave the bell towers.

"It's an ambush! Frank, get on the radio! Tell 'em that we found Arthur's crew!" the third soldier shouted.

The third soldier only turned the fourth, Frank, who had begun to reach for a walkie-talkie when he was grabbed by something that looked vaguely like an eagle in Roman armor grab him and throw him through window of the cathedral. An "urk" made him turn back toward the second soldier, and he found that a green colored griffon like gargoyle had made a hard dive and knocked the soldier out with one punch.

"You won't be warning anyone!" Griff said in a firm voice.

Before the third soldier could raise his weapon and fire, something hit his ankles and took his feet out from under him. The other soldiers behind him were soon pushed into a panicked run as Lancelot and Julia dove down and carried off one soldier, each. Griff only grimaced when he heard two 'thumps' as they were thrown into something made of stone.

"And hopefully Arthur and Rachael can grab the rest of them," Griff thought, remember the hasty plan that Reginald had to ambush the patrol as it made its final approach.

Arthur and Rachael made their way out of another door in time to see the fog roll in and begin to cover the area. As Arthur readied the electric blaster that he had been given, he found that the fog had turned everything into a greyish white haze.

"Can you still see?" Arthur asked to Rachael who was still in her wolf form. Her eyes presently seemed to glow a bright gold, amplified by the water particles in the air that went along with the fog that had come in.

"Yes," Rachael nodded, "Not perfectly, but I can still see quite well."

Arthur let her take the lead, as he would need her help to see through the fog as he couldn't see too far into the haze on his own. He heard the sounds of the gargoyles roars and some scattered gunfire as well as one set of windows breaking, and assumed that the ambush was going fairly well. Soon, a series of heavy footsteps was heard approaching them. Arthur managed to make out Rachael turning one of her ears to the sound.

"Get ready," Arthur instructed, "here they come!"

Arthur nodded, but only moved when Rachael leaped out onto the sidewalk in front of where they expected the fleeing Illuminati garrison men to be. They weren't all quite there, but they were close enough that when Rachael leaped, they did come to a stop. Hoping to get a good scare in, Rachael let out a loud growling snarl that revealed to them just how big her teeth were in wolf form. The men skidded to a halt and gave a panicked scream.

By this time Arthur had gotten in position to fire the electric blaster. He hit two in the chest, which knocked them out, but didn't fire on the third and final man in front of them. The soldier took advantage of Arthur's slower reflexes and raised his gun and fired. Arthur was knocked backward by the impact of the bullet into his thigh and fell onto his back.

"ARTHUR!" Rachael gasped and then grasped the soldier and lifted him up and then growled, "I ought to EAT you!"

The man screamed and pivoted his arms again and fired. Rachael gave a grunt as the bullet went through her abdomen and then out of her back. However, the round wasn't silver. Pain burned like fire in her midsection, but she managed just enough composure to toss the man up into the air where Julia and Octavia, who had been pursuing the soldiers from the air, caught him and then dove with the man into sidewalk. The blow finally knocked the man out.

"Are you alright?" Griff asked as he came running.

"I'll be fine," Rachael gave a groan, "Lycanthropic regeneration and all that… but Arthur may need direct help…"

Griff turned to see Arthur on his back and clutching at his thigh. He couldn't easily get up because of Excalibur, which was still on his back.

"Julia, get to Merlin," Griff instructed, "Arthur will need him to get over this. Octavia, help Lancelot gather up the ones we've knocked out. Remember that Reginald will want ALL of their gear."

"Right," Octavia sighed, "Though we may need to do more of this in order to arm anyone who volunteers for the idea of launching an armed revolution."

"Baby steps to saving the country and its people," Arthur said with a pained sigh from where he was.

Inside the church, Cathy and many of the others stood by nervously. The sight of the transformed Rachael had unnerved them and the report of their being found made many of them nervous. The sounds that echoed from outside raised even more fears, as inhuman roars echoed and gunshots interrupted them. However, the nervous waiting ended when a lone Illuminati soldier was thrown through one of the windows. Cathy watched in surprise as the man's gun landed on the floor and slid across the room until it hit the far wall. The man didn't go as far, and hit one of pews head first and then bounced backward and turned four hundred fifty degrees in the air and finally landed on his stomach at Cathy's feet.

"It is one of the garrison!" a man commented and came up and kicked the soldier as he lay there.

The soldier didn't move.

"And defeated to protect us… to protect you," Coyote spoke from where he was, which Cathy soon saw was where the gun had landed, "You must trust Arthur!"

"And if we decide not to?" Cathy asked carefully.

"Then he's given you the time needed to escape," Coyote countered.

Cathy looked to the others. Many of them were now focused on the unconscious or dead Illuminati soldier.

"What say you all?" Cathy asked.

"We'll stand with him!" then echoed loudly through the room.

The cheer was soon cut short as footsteps were heard. Some came from the main entrance area, and soon produced Merlin, Beth, and Reginald. Some of the people were a bit nervous by Reginald's appearance, but hadn't said anything, yet. What attracted the most attention was Rachael and Griff helping a wounded Arthur hobble into the sanctuary. Merlin and Beth were quick to rush to his side.

"I'll be fine," Arthur said in a pained voice, "but I think I will need medical attention…"

"I can provide it," Beth offered, "if we can get you to a spot that they won't think to look for you…"

"And I can remove the bullet without having to result to major surgery," Merlin promised, "It is the least I can do after all you've done for me through all of this."

The twenty that had answered Coyote's call through Cathy crowded toward him. Surprise and shock and confusion were among their thoughts. The Illuminati had blamed the war on him, and while they may have agreed that they were wrong to invade the country because of him, they hadn't truly thought he was the real man of legend. Merely a man who was playing to it, but he had all these powerful friends who could have helped him escape. And yet here he was, still in Farnham and wounded besides.

"You've been shot…!" Cathy found herself gasping.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "What is coming will be rough and hard… and I would never ask you to undertake risks that I, myself, would not willingly take myself. I will need help to save Britain from the Illuminati and for the present government that represents you… and I will not sit by and sacrifice you for politics… If you die, I will die with you."

"As at Camlann," one man said slowly.

A few looks turned his way. Arthur gave a pained sigh as he remembered the battle against his own son and the wounds he had sustained there. The wounds that had sent him to Avalon to heal.

"Everyone's heard the stories of King Arthur and his knights," the man said defensively with all eyes on him, "and you all know I've had an interest in them."

"Not all the stories are one hundred percent accurate," Arthur said with a small smile, "…but it is a bit of a surprise to find someone who knows the name of my last battle as King without consulting a book."

"We will fight with you!" a voice said firmly.

This made Cathy nod in agreement.

"You are still a king among men, Arthur Pendragon; even if not in political stature," Cathy spoke, "We will fight for you… we will rise up…"

"No matter how long it takes to defeat the Illuminati!" another voice vowed.

"Come," Cathy then said, "We'll help you all get to a place of safety… though your werewolf will need to resume human form."

"We'll try to glide overhead," Griff told her, "You'll be safe… or at least as safe as you can be, given the circumstances."

Cathy could only nod. She doubted the twenty she had found could really help Arthur, but if it inspired others to rise up, maybe there would be some hope.

**The End…**


End file.
